Technical trust

History

2018-2020: The authorities of the Czech Republic arrested $13 million which arrived from the Russian IT distributor

As TAdviser knew, the authorities of the Czech Republic on suspicion of washing arrested $13.3 million which arrived local company Bardet from the Russian importer of the IT equipment of "Tekhtrast". The famous Russian offshore specialist Yury Sneshko appears in investigation. Perhaps, law enforcement agencies traced the scheme on the optimization of taxes created for the benefit of large Russian IT distributor. On the instructions of TAdviser the journalist Igor Korolyov understood the Czech business and prepared article.

As case of the transaction with the Russian company came to the Constitutional court of the Czech Republic

In April, 2018 the police of Prague seized the money in the amount of $13.3 million which arrived into the account of local IT distributor of Bardet from the Russian IT distributor of "Tekhtrast". At the rate of for April, 2018 the arrested amount was equivalent to 800 million rubles.

Bardet did not agree with such solution and at once tried to dispute it in the Highest prosecutor's office of Prague and in the Supreme court of Prague, but in the summer of 2019 the company was refused. After that in November, 2019 the complaint in the Constitutional court which was also rejected followed.

According to the solution published on the website of the Constitutional court, arrest was executed within investigation about laundering of income gained from criminal activity. The decision of the Constitutional court final and to the appeal is not subject.

Money was transferred between the companies from Russia and Bahrain. Owners of these companies are citizens of Russia and Cyprus "with the emphasis on the Russian Federation", said in the solution.

According to base of export-import transactions Importgenius, "Tekhtrast" was the only importer buying products from Bardet

According to data of Contour-Focus base, the Tekhtrast company is registered in Mytishchi situated near Moscow and belongs to the CEO Yaroslav Kuznetsov. According to data of base of export-import transactions of Importgenius (monitors in real time deliveries of goods in and from Russia, the USA and one and a half tens other countries), "Tekhtrast" was the only importer buying products from Bardet – the corresponding transactions took place in April, 2018.

Why money from Russia caused suspicion in the Czech police

At the disposal of TAdviser there is a decision of the authorities of the Czech Republic on arrest of accounts of Bardet. Follows from it that the citizen of Russia Yury Sneshko was the disponent (the person having the order right) of means who came to Bardet from "Tekhtrast". The person as of the middle of the 2000th worked with such name and a surname in the Russian representative office of the international consulting company Fortnostress and actively gave comments to the Russian media concerning taxation in the offshore.

The Czech police suspect that Bardet does not conduct any real economic activity, and payments from "Tekhtrast" were made on the basis of dummy contracts. The reasons for such suspicions are that Bardet has no employees, and before receiving money from "Tekhtrast" on the account of the company only 183 euros lay and there were practically no movements. Transfer of the insignificant amount - $5 thousand - from the offshore Lismark Holding registered on the British Virgin Islands was the only exception.

Lismark Holding is one more structure which is engaged in distribution of the IT equipment to countries of Eastern Europe. Its only owner is the citizen of Great Britain Vladimir Pristoupa. According to data of the register of legal entities of Great Britain, Pristoupa is registered as the director in tens of different British firms, including head structure of above-mentioned Fortnostress.

Follows from materials of the Czech police that Pristoupa had to sign contracts on behalf of Bardet with Lismark Holding though he is not employed in staff of this company. The police consider that it is about attempt of concealment of real origin of money which, "possibly, were received as a result of the criminal offense committed abroad by the organized group acting more than in one state". This scheme causes damage to the unidentified person or the company, conclude in police department.

Within the made investigation to Prague called the director of Bardet, the citizen of Cyprus Andri Andreou for questioning. It is also registered as the director in several tens firms registered in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (prior to the beginning of the 90th the Czech Republic and Slovakia were the uniform state).

Including Andreou was the director of the Slovak IT distributor of Telperien whom the marketing agency Tebiz Group specializing in researches of the B2B-markets and foreign trade included in number of the largest suppliers of servers to Russia. A partner of Telperien in Russia is the Kombit company. As of September, 2020 the director and the owner of Telperien, according to the Ministry of Justice of Slovakia, is the above-mentioned British given Vladimir Pristoupa.

The only owner of the Czech Bardet is the British company Montalfano Holding. According to data of the British register, it was created in 2016 by citizens of Cyprus Nikoletta Christoforou and Maria Placota who became her directors and co-owners. In 2017 both Cypriotes left the company and the citizen of Poland Eliza Kaan became its new director.

Czech "dummy companies" for Post-Soviet businessmen

Montalfano Holding has some more assets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including the Slovak Ferrandi. Among her directors [1] the citizen of the Czech Republic Tomas Chrobak appears. The person with such name and a surname worked in Protteco Trust company, the rendering service in registration of business in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and at Cyprus. Including Chrobak actively advertized advantages of the Czech and Slovak systems of taxation and made the corresponding reports at conferences in Russia and in Ukraine.

According to Protteco Trust presentation, her primary clients are tax consultants and intermediaries from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Hungary. The service which is the most demanded by them is receiving ready "dummy companies" (shelf company) in the Czech Republic and Slovaks having local bank accounts and suitable for positioning as sales agents.

The source of TAdviser familiar with materials of this case says that Yury Sneshko and Thomas Hrobak were organizers of the scheme on the optimization of taxation created for the benefit of large Russian IT distributor.

Why it is more profitable to deliver goods through "dummy companies" and what it threatens with?

According to the source TAdviser familiar from investigation material, sense of this scheme that the Russian IT distributor buys the equipment not directly from foreign vendor, and through the Russian phony companies which, in turn, buy it from offshore structures. Thanks to this scheme the Russian distributor takes away the margin practically "in zero" that allows it to save on taxes and to increase the hidden profitability.

As the managing partner of Tax Compliance law firm Mikhail Begunov explains TAdviser, schemes with purchase of the import equipment using Russian and foreign "dummy companies" use for withdrawal of funds to the foreign states.

The point is that the organizer of the scheme incurs minimum flows on withdrawal of funds as it is very difficult to check expenses in the field of IT, - Begunov says. - Respectively, similar false firms just use for illegal transactions as it is very difficult to reveal violations. If the goods were bought directly, expenses of the organization would be much more

If there is a fact in evidence of illegal withdrawal of funds abroad, then it will entail claims from tax authorities with all that it implies: prosecution and additional accrual of taxes on the displaid amounts, adds Runners.

It means penalties and additional expenses on payment of those amounts which the organization would have to pay if transactions were carried out according to the current legislation for the company, - he summarizes

Trace of large Russian distributor

TAdviser, having studied activity of the organizations mentioned above, detected in them communication with a number of foreign suppliers from whom the IT equipment is bought by group of the Russian companies. A part from these import companies by this moment is already liquidated. "Threads" from this group of importers lead to structures which can be connected with one of the largest Russian IT distributors – OCS (is a part of National Computer Corporation, NCC). The main legal entity OCS is "the Group of O-Si-Es".

According to data of Importgenius base, above-mentioned Lismark Holding delivered the IT equipment to three organizations which by this moment are liquidated to Russia: "Module Service", Routlend and "System projects".

The Lismark company transferring money of the Czech Bardet at which arrested $13.3 million from Russia also cooperated with the Russian company "System Projects" registered to one address with OCS

Routlend belonged to Sergey Zegdzhe who was a co-owner "Open Kompyyuter Solyushnz". In 2015 the CNews edition wrote that this company is legal entity OCS. Such conclusion can be drawn from several facts.

First, the CEO of "Open Kompyyuter Solyushenz" is Alexey Fedin. Earlier he headed "Ofis Kompyyuter Sistemz Distribution" company which then was absorbed by the OCS group. Secondly, on the website International Financial Consulting Group, the rendering service in a customs clearance, OCS is mentioned in the section Clients, and as the letter of acknowledgement from this client the letter from "Open Kompyyuter Solyushenz" is published.

Secondly, together with Sergey Zegdzhey "Open Kompyyuter Solyushenz" was a co-owner the Cyprian offshore Isolin Trade & Invest earlier. This company is one more IT distributor delivering the equipment to Russia. There are several facts testimonial of communications of OCS with this offshore.

So, on a developer's site of storage systems of Netapp in the section Partners Isolin Trade & Invest appears as legal entity OCS. On the website of other developer of storage systems - EMC - in the section Partners is specified the address Isolin Trade & Invest which matches the address of the St. Petersburg office OCS (Bolshoy Samsoniyevsky Avenue, 68d).

The Cyprus company of Isolin Trade & Invest through which communication with other partner of Lismark is traced - Routlend company, also works under the OCS brand

On the website of Isolin Trade & Invest the OCS logo is used. And on the website of OCS to the partners wishing to act as reseller of products Zebra (develops mobile computers, scanners and printers for retail), it is offered to fill out the corresponding request, having specified the offshore Isolin Trade & Invest as the distributor.

Concerning System Projects company in 2017 the Business St. Petersburg newspaper wrote that it can be connected with OCS. Including System Projects were registered to the same address in St. Petersburg (Moskovsky Avenue, 2/6/FA), as software supplier "O-Si-Es Solyushnz" whose name is conformable with OCS. Besides, System Projects [2] was among the largest importers of above-mentioned offshore Isolin Trade & Invest.

The Dutch [3] firms Copex and CommScope Warehouse and also the Finnish East Light were other suppliers of Routlend, Modul-service and System Projects companies. These organizations had still a number of partners in Russia, including above-mentioned "Tekhtrast" and "Kombit".

Among other partners of three above-mentioned foreign companies were nowadays liquidated Interdeyky, Leysli and Grandsistem. The first two from them were created by Vladimir Dankov who earlier also created and directing Sistemy-Opt company. As the founder of the third of the mentioned structures - Grandsistem - acts Sergey Shablok, the current CEO of "Sistemy-Opt". Let's note that the former name "Sistemy-Opt" - "Au-si-es of a system" - is conformable to the name OCS.

Earlier TAdviser wrote that "Au-si-es of a system" are one of legal entities of the OCS group. Including, "Au-si-es of a system" together with OCS and other structures of NCC in 2016 participated in deliveries of the equipment of HP for needs of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

Later the Federal Antimonopoly Service determined the fact of cartel collusion among participants of the corresponding tender of the CEC and fined Aquarius (also enters into NCC) 163 million rubles. According to FAS, Aquarius specially refused participation in the tender that the CEC it was forced to buy the equipment of HP through structures of OCS. In July, 2020 on this fact criminal case is brought, his person involved is the president of National Computer Corporation Alexander Kalinin.

It is more than Slovak IT suppliers

To one address with System Projects and O-Si-Es Solyuyshenz companies also the Routmash company is registered. [4] The Slovak Carovilli Trading acts as her supplier. According to data of the Ministry of Justice of Slovakia, [5] the British Rushville Associates and the Panama Trentino International are among its shareholders. The same two structures are co-owners of one more Slovak IT distributor - Bompietro Trading.

According to [6]the Tebiz Group, Carovilli Trading and Bompietro Trading agency were among the largest suppliers of servers to Russia. Bompietro Trading delivers to Russia goods on Citykom and Bitteriya company. These two companies, as well as Routmash, also buy goods from above-mentioned foreign suppliers - Copex, Commscope Warehouse and East Light.

Thus, doubtful transfer of $13.3 million from the Russian company "Tekhtrast" of the Czech company Bardet can be a part of larger scheme of deliveries to Russia of IT products through phony companies from Russia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and also using a number of offshore suppliers. A part of the Russian firms buying products according to schemes of this sort is already liquidated.

At the same time the mentioned Russian firms have common features – directors, founders, registration addresses – with the structures having, in turn, communications with OCS company (also tell publications in media and data on the websites of vendors about their affiliation). At the same time in documents of the Czech police, available TAdviser, OCS it is not mentioned.

In "Tekhtrast", Bardet, Fortnostress and Lismark Holding did not answer questions of TAdviser of the investigation which is rather made in the Czech Republic. The lawyer of the Czech law company Seifert a partneri Filip Seifert (Filip Seifert) representing the interests of Bardet in the Constitutional court of the Czech Republic also did not respond the edition to the request. Replies to the requests, sent to the Ministries of Internal Affairs and the State Office of Public Prosecutor of the Czech Republic, by the time of the publication did not arrive.

Yury Sneshko and Elisa Kaan did not respond to the requests on social networks for establishment of contacts with them. Thomas Hrobak did not answer questions concerning his cooperation with the Russian IT distributors. The press service of the OCS group refused to answer questions concerning the possible communication with the above-mentioned companies.