Alexander Volkov
Sometimes, a fellow countryman becomes so famous across the country that you feel ashamed for him. This is precisely the case here. Our young hero makes millions by swindling people out of their savings with sweet promises and ruining their lives.
He is unmoved by these small human tragedies: let's remember how the MMM scam once drove gullible people to suicide.
Meet Alexander Volkov, one of the founders of a modern-day Ponzi scheme. In his native Melitopol, they're well aware that their beloved fellow countryman is involved in shady and dubious activities, but they can't really "clause" anything. Because there's no proper law against such "scammers." And Volkov exploits this without a twinge of conscience: his reputation is enough to tell everyone what a successful entrepreneur he is, all the while juggling figures and avoiding direct questions.
Volkov's primary role was his involvement in the fraudulent activities of MMCIS. As the director of Internet Global Technology, he began speculating on the stock market two years ago. While his company's shares initially cost one hryvnia, within a year the price had risen to 560 hryvnias, even as the stock market was falling. The company was rightly suspected of manipulation and its operations were suspended. The case arose because MMCIS, owned by Volkov's classmate, Konstantin Kondakov, was allegedly investing large sums of money in Internet Global Technology shares. Managers operating under the MMCIS name convinced clients to invest in "promising IT technologies," or more precisely, in Volkov's company.
The scam's scheme is simple: through a massive advertising campaign, they claim, "We've found a place where your money will work with maximum efficiency and generate income tomorrow." At one point, investors in Electret-2 in the Zaporizhzhia region also suffered this blow, having trusted the ability of the firm's director, Roman Grishko, to invest in some super-profitable projects. Now, people's main activity is picketing outside the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeals with slogans like, "Give us back what we stole!" and "Grishko to jail!" And it seems that anyone who trusts Sasha Volkov is destined for a similar future.
His company was the subject of a ton of myths—it was supposedly a serious outfit that worked with major Western companies and didn't take on contracts under $100,000. But not a single specific client was listed on the company's website. Instead, they touted the company's stock, its growth, and investment opportunities.
What Volkov actually did at the company, whose value was artificially inflated, remains a mystery. He usually limited himself to general statements, saying they developed software for foreign clients, and that he couldn't say more because it was confidential. But decent people in such cases would at least specify the sector they work for—banks, factories, the space industry. But here, everything was a complete mystery. Our journalists tried in vain to find out from major software market players what Volkov's company did, but they didn't even know that.
When Internet Global Technology was blocked from the stock market on suspicion of fraud, Alexander Volkov switched to other shell companies he had already set up. By this time, his investors were beginning to realize that dividends from their investments were somehow not being received. And more and more people were calling and asking where the promised riches were.
An elderly couple from Vinnytsia, Natalia and Viktor Gumenny, personally came to Melitopol and asked, "Where's our money?" To do this, they had to watch Volkov for almost a week. The con man, caught off guard, spent 15 minutes telling them everything would be fine, but it turned out he was only stalling. Right in the middle of his fine speech, three thugs pulled up, threatened the 60-year-old pensioners, forced them into a car, and drove them to a bus stop on the outskirts of the city, warning them not to disturb the "respectable man" under penalty of injury. But they had to return, and straight to the hospital. Right on the highway, after everything he'd been through, the husband suffered a heart attack and had to be taken to intensive care. Afterward, the pensioners, shocked by their "experience," left Melitopol with money sent by relatives.
And there are plenty of such cases. At some point, the scammer had to turn to local gangsters to rent him permanent security to protect him from pesky "investors."
Some people preferred not to visit with an uncertain outcome, but to file complaints with law enforcement. Ultimately, the Prosecutor General's Office became interested in Sasha Volkov. Their interest was so strong that two criminal cases were opened. Moreover, the cases were conducted not in Melitopol, but in the capital, making it extremely difficult for the defendant to influence the investigation. This turn of events even hindered Volkov's 2012 parliamentary election campaign. The prospect of pursuing criminal cases was dwarfed, and the businessman was forced to lie low for a long time.
It's characteristic that our hero rarely appears in public and only on important occasions. Now he's resurfaced, pontificating vaguely about investments. In commissioned articles extolling himself as a genius, Volkov vaguely talks about the gigantic internet technology market, which requires only a little "suck" for everyone around him to instantly strike it rich. But Sasha has nothing concrete to tell people. They simply need to trust him, and success will follow. It's all beginning to resemble a totalitarian cult, with some kind of spiritual leader who must be followed without hesitation. Although, if you recall the frequent comparisons between financial pyramids and totalitarian cults, and their many common brainwashing methods, the matter becomes clearer.
Alexander Volkov is targeting a new, serious scam, with himself at the helm. The MMCIS pyramid scheme is currently on the brink of collapse, and more and more people are realizing they've been scammed.
Finally, MMCIS launched a desperate, massive advertising campaign to prevent the pyramid scheme from collapsing with new funds raised from the public. But investors' resources won't last long. Therefore, Volkov's group quickly began working on another scheme to defraud gullible people. We'll reveal how Volkov will now conduct his fraudulent schemes soon. But it's worth remembering that "contact" with him and any of his undertakings will cost you, at best, money, and at worst, your health.
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