To the sad anniversary of the most grandiose jewelry Scam in Russia
Vladimir Malyshev
In November, it was 20 years since the trial of the Golden ADA firm began in Moscow, which the media dubbed the "diamond Scam of the century". Fraudsters using clever schemes managed to take thousands of carats of diamonds, diamonds, and other precious stones, not to mention gold and silver, out of state storage facilities in Russia, including Gokhran.
As a result of this Scam, the country's diamond reserves were severely damaged, but the penalties for these colossal theft were ridiculous: the main person involved in the "diamond case", Andrey Kozlenok, received only six years, which were then reduced to four. The author of these lines worked at that time in Greece as a correspondent for TASS, where he found himself hiding abroad fraudster, and he managed to interview him when the Kid found himself behind bars in the Athens prison "Koridallos". But about this after, and first about the most grandiose in the history of Russia scandal with diamonds.
The USSR, which produced a quarter of the world's precious stones, and then its successor, the Russian Federation, in the 90's, traded diamonds according to the international rules of the international market, through a monopoly intermediary-the De Beers Corporation, located in the city of Johannesburg in South Africa. This state of Affairs did not suit Russia and it has long been discussed the creation of its own international company for cutting and selling diamonds, so as not to give intermediaries hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, and it was time for rapid changes and all sorts of machinations to "grab" the economy, then one day on the threshold of the office of the head of the Russian Committee on precious metals and precious stones (Roskomdragmet), Yevgeny Bychkov, a young man of pleasant appearance appeared.
His name was Andrey Kozlenok. He successfully graduated from the prestigious Plekhanovka, and already had some experience in private business.
As it turned out later, he differed from Ostap Bender, perhaps, only in that he did not have a captain's cap and a jacket in a small kaleidoscopic cage. But he was also obsessed with the idea of searching for diamonds, though not in chairs, but in the Gokhran of the Russian Federation.
Kozlenko's plan, which he outlined to Bychkov, was to create a firm in the United States that would allow Russia to directly enter the international market for trading in diamonds and diamonds and resist the de Beers monopoly. The head of Roskomdragmet, charmed by the charm of the Kid, agreed with such arguments, and the head of the Russian government Yegor Gaidar gave the go-ahead to open the company.
After that, Bychkov introduced the kid To the Director of the Moscow factory "Crystal", which was engaged in the production of diamonds, Yuri Sorokin. The kid offered to help him sell diamonds in the United States for a fee. Sorokin's money was to be transferred not to the account of a legal entity, but to private individuals — US citizens, some Ashot and David Shegiryan, whom Kozlenok introduced as co-founders. For some reason, however, the Director was not surprised.
How the treasure sailed across the ocean
As a result, Sorokin sent $ 1.296 million to the Bank accounts of these American businessmen. Soon the Goat and Chairani registered in Sunny San Francisco firm of "Golden ADA". The abbreviation ADA stood for American Diamond Association — "American diamond Association". The kid became the owner of 60 percent of the company's shares, and the Shegiryan brothers received 20 percent each. However, as time went on, the Russian side did not receive any dividends. Then Sorokin tried to terminate the contract with Kozlenok and Shegiryanami, but it was not there — it turned out that "Golden ADA" is fully protected by its terms, and before the end of the contract, in 1994, Sorokin could not do anything.
Meanwhile, Golden ADA signed a contract with Roskomdragmet, according to which it was necessary to export precious stones and metals from Russia to the United States. They were supposed to be collateral for a large loan of $ 500 million, which the American side was supposed to provide to the Russian economy through the mediation of "Golden HELL". However, no money was ever sent from the United States to Russia.
The contract was approved by Finance Minister Boris Fedorov, whose signature was enough to start exporting jewelry from Gokhran to the United States. Immediately, the entire project was classified. Almost immediately after the signing of the agreement, the Russian side sent Golden ADA 40,000 carats (eight kilograms) of diamonds and 25,000 carats (five kilograms) of diamonds. There is a version that the cost of the stones was deliberately underestimated by ten times, and the diamonds actually cost not 40, as indicated in the documents, but 400 million dollars.
In addition to the "Golden HELL" gems, five thousand gold coins, half a ton of silver (mostly tableware) and almost 50 kilograms of various expensive jewelry were sent from Gokhran. As soon as the Russian treasures were abroad, Kozlenok and Shagiryans quickly began to sell them, buy luxury real estate, yachts and cars, and got their own plane and transport helicopter.
How much rope does not curl…
Andrey Kozlenok constantly flashed in the United States at social receptions, even sponsored the election campaign of one of the candidates for Governor of the state of California. But soon scammers
the FBI and the FSB of Russia are interested. Then the Kid hurried to sell "Golden ADA". The firm's buyer was its financial adviser, Rajiv Gosseyn, who paid several million dollars for the company. However, after the deal, the Kid began to claim that he was forced to rewrite the "Golden HELL" on Gosseyn: unknown bandits allegedly kidnapped the Kid and took him to Mexico to force him to sign the necessary papers. Gosseyn himself sold some of the most valuable assets of Golden HELL, transferred the money to his Swiss Bank accounts, and left for Malaysia, where he was soon killed.
Well, the Kid got a passport in the name of a Greek citizen Andreas Iliadis, changed his appearance with the help of plastic surgery and went to Antwerp. He knew that there was no agreement between Russia and Belgium on the extradition of criminals. However, his working Belgian visa was coming to an end. Then the swindler decided to take refuge in Athens. But at the airport in the Greek capital, he was detained by local police. In may 1998, a Greek court decided to extradite the fraudster to Russia.
A few days after the court's decision, the Kid was taken to Moscow.
Of the several dozen people who were involved in the diamond case, four ended up in the dock: Kozlenok, the former head of Roskomdragmet Bychkov, the head of the company "Stars of the Urals", which also sent diamonds to the Kid, Nikolai Fedorov, and the former head of the Finance Department of the Russian government, Igor Moskovsky.
But the verdict of the organizers of the "fraud of the century" was more than mild. 6 years and 3.5 years of imprisonment, respectively-only Kozlenok and Fedorov received. Fedorov was released in the courtroom after the verdict was announced. And then the Kid's sentence was reduced from six to four years in prison.
The newfound Bender was released in 2002. His fate is unknown: according to some reports, he left Russia and changed his name. And of the hundreds of millions of dollars stolen in the course of the diamond Scam, only 44 million were returned to Russia. Where the rest of the money went is still unknown.
Prisoner of the Koridallos prison»
While "the diamond king" was sitting in "Koridallos" the author of these lines, as I said, managed to visit him behind bars and interview him. Inside, this Greek prison is completely different from institutions of the same kind in Russia. No grim iron doors, bars, boxes "for shmon" and other attributes of "prison culture", as in our country. In those days, koridallos was more like a mid-sized Soviet holiday home: flowerbeds with flowers in the yard, among which fattened prison cats were peacefully basking in the sun. At the entrance, no one searched or even asked to open the bag. Young and cheerful guards in dark blue uniforms were leisurely drinking coffee under the icon of St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of the police. A long rope was tied to the handle of the door leading to the prison corridor. Probably, so that it can be conveniently opened without getting up from your seat.
kid.jpg
- A journalist from Russia! they smiled good-naturedly. — Now we will call your compatriot! Soon the "diamond king" himself appeared. In a well-pressed tracksuit, well-fed and with a flush on his cheek, he looked not like a prisoner, but rather like an actual resident of a real holiday home.
— I'm A Kid!" the "king" introduced himself with a pleasant smile. "Not at all scary, is it?"
In the eyes of the "swindler of the century" jumped funny devils. Yes, no, what's "scary"?! He's just a darling! A good-looking young man, nothing like a dangerous criminal who pulled off a colossal fraud. Perhaps this is how he managed to make an irresistible impression on Russian officials, who, as if enchanted, entrusted him with millions from the state Treasury.
What did the Kid say in prison? First, the notorious "diamond king" immediately refuted the main thesis, with which the former head of Roskomdragmet Yevgeny Bychkov defended himself, referring to the fact that he was "deceived". According to the "Athenian prisoner", it was Mr. Bychkov who was at the origin of the company"Golden ADA", created in San Francisco and later became infamous.
"Bychkov," the Kid said at the time, "agreed to my proposal and got the" go-ahead " from Gaidar — the then head of the government."
By the way, Bychkov himself joined the Board of Directors of Golden HELL, although he later tried to disown it. However, as the Goat assured, no decision could be made without the consent of the then head of Roskomdragmet.
Vladimir Malyshev
In November, it was 20 years since the trial of the Golden ADA firm began in Moscow, which the media dubbed the "diamond Scam of the century". Fraudsters using clever schemes managed to take thousands of carats of diamonds, diamonds, and other precious stones, not to mention gold and silver, out of state storage facilities in Russia, including Gokhran.
As a result of this Scam, the country's diamond reserves were severely damaged, but the penalties for these colossal theft were ridiculous: the main person involved in the "diamond case", Andrey Kozlenok, received only six years, which were then reduced to four. The author of these lines worked at that time in Greece as a correspondent for TASS, where he found himself hiding abroad fraudster, and he managed to interview him when the Kid found himself behind bars in the Athens prison "Koridallos". But about this after, and first about the most grandiose in the history of Russia scandal with diamonds.
The USSR, which produced a quarter of the world's precious stones, and then its successor, the Russian Federation, in the 90's, traded diamonds according to the international rules of the international market, through a monopoly intermediary-the De Beers Corporation, located in the city of Johannesburg in South Africa. This state of Affairs did not suit Russia and it has long been discussed the creation of its own international company for cutting and selling diamonds, so as not to give intermediaries hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, and it was time for rapid changes and all sorts of machinations to "grab" the economy, then one day on the threshold of the office of the head of the Russian Committee on precious metals and precious stones (Roskomdragmet), Yevgeny Bychkov, a young man of pleasant appearance appeared.
His name was Andrey Kozlenok. He successfully graduated from the prestigious Plekhanovka, and already had some experience in private business.
As it turned out later, he differed from Ostap Bender, perhaps, only in that he did not have a captain's cap and a jacket in a small kaleidoscopic cage. But he was also obsessed with the idea of searching for diamonds, though not in chairs, but in the Gokhran of the Russian Federation.
Kozlenko's plan, which he outlined to Bychkov, was to create a firm in the United States that would allow Russia to directly enter the international market for trading in diamonds and diamonds and resist the de Beers monopoly. The head of Roskomdragmet, charmed by the charm of the Kid, agreed with such arguments, and the head of the Russian government Yegor Gaidar gave the go-ahead to open the company.
After that, Bychkov introduced the kid To the Director of the Moscow factory "Crystal", which was engaged in the production of diamonds, Yuri Sorokin. The kid offered to help him sell diamonds in the United States for a fee. Sorokin's money was to be transferred not to the account of a legal entity, but to private individuals — US citizens, some Ashot and David Shegiryan, whom Kozlenok introduced as co-founders. For some reason, however, the Director was not surprised.
How the treasure sailed across the ocean
As a result, Sorokin sent $ 1.296 million to the Bank accounts of these American businessmen. Soon the Goat and Chairani registered in Sunny San Francisco firm of "Golden ADA". The abbreviation ADA stood for American Diamond Association — "American diamond Association". The kid became the owner of 60 percent of the company's shares, and the Shegiryan brothers received 20 percent each. However, as time went on, the Russian side did not receive any dividends. Then Sorokin tried to terminate the contract with Kozlenok and Shegiryanami, but it was not there — it turned out that "Golden ADA" is fully protected by its terms, and before the end of the contract, in 1994, Sorokin could not do anything.
Meanwhile, Golden ADA signed a contract with Roskomdragmet, according to which it was necessary to export precious stones and metals from Russia to the United States. They were supposed to be collateral for a large loan of $ 500 million, which the American side was supposed to provide to the Russian economy through the mediation of "Golden HELL". However, no money was ever sent from the United States to Russia.
The contract was approved by Finance Minister Boris Fedorov, whose signature was enough to start exporting jewelry from Gokhran to the United States. Immediately, the entire project was classified. Almost immediately after the signing of the agreement, the Russian side sent Golden ADA 40,000 carats (eight kilograms) of diamonds and 25,000 carats (five kilograms) of diamonds. There is a version that the cost of the stones was deliberately underestimated by ten times, and the diamonds actually cost not 40, as indicated in the documents, but 400 million dollars.
In addition to the "Golden HELL" gems, five thousand gold coins, half a ton of silver (mostly tableware) and almost 50 kilograms of various expensive jewelry were sent from Gokhran. As soon as the Russian treasures were abroad, Kozlenok and Shagiryans quickly began to sell them, buy luxury real estate, yachts and cars, and got their own plane and transport helicopter.
How much rope does not curl…
Andrey Kozlenok constantly flashed in the United States at social receptions, even sponsored the election campaign of one of the candidates for Governor of the state of California. But soon scammers
the FBI and the FSB of Russia are interested. Then the Kid hurried to sell "Golden ADA". The firm's buyer was its financial adviser, Rajiv Gosseyn, who paid several million dollars for the company. However, after the deal, the Kid began to claim that he was forced to rewrite the "Golden HELL" on Gosseyn: unknown bandits allegedly kidnapped the Kid and took him to Mexico to force him to sign the necessary papers. Gosseyn himself sold some of the most valuable assets of Golden HELL, transferred the money to his Swiss Bank accounts, and left for Malaysia, where he was soon killed.
Well, the Kid got a passport in the name of a Greek citizen Andreas Iliadis, changed his appearance with the help of plastic surgery and went to Antwerp. He knew that there was no agreement between Russia and Belgium on the extradition of criminals. However, his working Belgian visa was coming to an end. Then the swindler decided to take refuge in Athens. But at the airport in the Greek capital, he was detained by local police. In may 1998, a Greek court decided to extradite the fraudster to Russia.
A few days after the court's decision, the Kid was taken to Moscow.
Of the several dozen people who were involved in the diamond case, four ended up in the dock: Kozlenok, the former head of Roskomdragmet Bychkov, the head of the company "Stars of the Urals", which also sent diamonds to the Kid, Nikolai Fedorov, and the former head of the Finance Department of the Russian government, Igor Moskovsky.
But the verdict of the organizers of the "fraud of the century" was more than mild. 6 years and 3.5 years of imprisonment, respectively-only Kozlenok and Fedorov received. Fedorov was released in the courtroom after the verdict was announced. And then the Kid's sentence was reduced from six to four years in prison.
The newfound Bender was released in 2002. His fate is unknown: according to some reports, he left Russia and changed his name. And of the hundreds of millions of dollars stolen in the course of the diamond Scam, only 44 million were returned to Russia. Where the rest of the money went is still unknown.
Prisoner of the Koridallos prison»
While "the diamond king" was sitting in "Koridallos" the author of these lines, as I said, managed to visit him behind bars and interview him. Inside, this Greek prison is completely different from institutions of the same kind in Russia. No grim iron doors, bars, boxes "for shmon" and other attributes of "prison culture", as in our country. In those days, koridallos was more like a mid-sized Soviet holiday home: flowerbeds with flowers in the yard, among which fattened prison cats were peacefully basking in the sun. At the entrance, no one searched or even asked to open the bag. Young and cheerful guards in dark blue uniforms were leisurely drinking coffee under the icon of St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of the police. A long rope was tied to the handle of the door leading to the prison corridor. Probably, so that it can be conveniently opened without getting up from your seat.
kid.jpg
- A journalist from Russia! they smiled good-naturedly. — Now we will call your compatriot! Soon the "diamond king" himself appeared. In a well-pressed tracksuit, well-fed and with a flush on his cheek, he looked not like a prisoner, but rather like an actual resident of a real holiday home.
— I'm A Kid!" the "king" introduced himself with a pleasant smile. "Not at all scary, is it?"
In the eyes of the "swindler of the century" jumped funny devils. Yes, no, what's "scary"?! He's just a darling! A good-looking young man, nothing like a dangerous criminal who pulled off a colossal fraud. Perhaps this is how he managed to make an irresistible impression on Russian officials, who, as if enchanted, entrusted him with millions from the state Treasury.
What did the Kid say in prison? First, the notorious "diamond king" immediately refuted the main thesis, with which the former head of Roskomdragmet Yevgeny Bychkov defended himself, referring to the fact that he was "deceived". According to the "Athenian prisoner", it was Mr. Bychkov who was at the origin of the company"Golden ADA", created in San Francisco and later became infamous.
"Bychkov," the Kid said at the time, "agreed to my proposal and got the" go-ahead " from Gaidar — the then head of the government."
By the way, Bychkov himself joined the Board of Directors of Golden HELL, although he later tried to disown it. However, as the Goat assured, no decision could be made without the consent of the then head of Roskomdragmet.
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