Russia Issues First Conviction for Cryptocurrency Fraudsters

On November 1, the Smolninsky District Court of St. Petersburg found the director and three coaches of the “Escada Asset Management Business School” guilty of fraud, having stolen over 55 million rubles from citizens. This was reported by Kommersant.

According to the case materials, the organization operated from January 2019 to April 2020. Robert Aloyan served as the general director, while Revaz Burduli, Akob Tovmasyan, and Nikolai Volokitin acted as financial analysts. Under the guise of providing consulting services, they promised victims training in strategies and the use of services for trading on the cryptocurrency exchange.

“Escada” rented offices in the city center and conducted aggressive advertising, including through a call center. Potential clients were found through job search website databases. They were promised high returns from investing in brokerage platforms and were pressured into purchasing paid courses.

If a client lacked funds, they were advised to take out loans from controlled microfinance organizations.

In reality, no asset trading took place. The “business school” victimized 45 citizens who invested over 55 million rubles. “Escada’s” activities ceased in the spring of 2020.

Aloyan and Burduli received seven years in a general regime colony, Tovmasyan one month less, and Volokitin three years probation. All four admitted their guilt. According to the prosecutor’s office, this is the first conviction in Russia against fraudulent brokers.

Earlier in October, a Moscow court imposed preventive measures on three defendants in the case of the criminal community of the Cryptex cryptocurrency exchange and the anonymous payment system UAPS.