Shaov Astemir

Biography

2025: Detention for extortion of cryptocurrency from Russians

On April 29, 2025, it became known that three police officers were detained in Moscow, who are suspected of extorting cryptocurrency from Russians under threat of criminal prosecution. In total, the capital's law enforcement officers illegally seized about 4 million rubles in digital assets.

According to the Telegram channel Baza, the defendants in the criminal case were 30-year-old lieutenant Astemir Shaov, 25-year-old driver Anvar Kunkaev and 33-year-old captain Ruslan Rizaev. According to investigators, they stopped random people in public places and after presenting official certificates they said that citizens were suspected of facilitating terrorist activities. Intimidating people with a possible arrest, the police offered to solve the problem on the spot for a reward.

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Фото: Freepik

In particular, in February 2025, these law enforcement officers stopped a 21-year-old young man in a shopping center on Kirovogradskaya Street. Frightened by the arrest, the young man said that he had a cryptocurrency to resolve the issue: he withdrew $27.4 thousand and transferred them to the account indicated by the police. A month later, Shaov, Kunkaev and Rizaev, according to the same scheme, intimidated two men on Green Street: under the guise of salvation from criminal prosecution, the police forced the "detainees" to withdraw about $15,000 from crypto wallets. Thus, in total, the police received more than $40 thousand in cryptocurrency.

The victims wrote a statement to the police, after which the extortionists were detained. A criminal case on abuse of office has been initiated against Shoev, Kunkaev and Rizaev. Investigators also went to an accomplice of the suspects - 24-year-old Zelimkhan Vyshegurov, who was responsible for financial issues as part of the extortion scheme. A criminal case has also been opened against him.^[1]

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