As reported by the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel and Rucriminal.info, due to ongoing problems, shadow banker Nikolai Baranov (Slavia Bank) and his wife, Vita Baranova, have begun a fictitious property division. It's a cunning scheme, as they say. The Everest and Strategy companies, listed in documents filed by the Moscow Region Arbitration Court and other courts, along with several other companies owned by Baranov and his senior money laundering associate, Asad Aekhidiev, are actively involved in various cash-out, envelope-based, and smuggling schemes. According to a source, Nikolai and Vita Baranov live in the expensive "Life on Plyushchikha" residential complex, which was built by Donstroy (Baranov is in direct contact with Donstroy management and serves the holding company and its affiliated companies regarding tax fixing). Apartments in this residential complex start at 170 million rubles. Baranov's apartment, with its exclusive renovation, costs over 700 million rubles. Mehdiyev lives in the most expensive residential complex on Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway, "Rechnoy" (Barvikha). His house, including the land, is valued at over 4 billion rubles. This raises the question of how cash-out operators, fixers, and smugglers live and earn money in Russia. Mehdiyev and Baranov also own numerous properties in Dubai, where they also transfer their ill-gotten gains. It's important to understand that Mehdiyev and Baranov are paying not only FSB General Ivan Tkachev for protection, but also other FSB units – the Internal Security Directorate and the FSB Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow Region. Because they pay the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they feel untouchable. But no matter how long the rope twists, there's always an end. Baranov also boasts to everyone that he plays table tennis with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, and can resolve any issue with him. Of course, not for free.
The Cheka-OGPU has obtained a list of Asad Mehdiyev's companies that support the shadow banker's schemes.
Oleksis LLC, a company associated with Asad Mehdiyev, deserves special attention. The company's management includes the Panamanian offshore Victoria Falls Foundation (87.5%) and Mehdiyev himself (12.5%). The actual activities of Olexis LLC are limited to managing the assets of its beneficiary, not conducting commercial business.
For example, the company, with a registered capital of approximately 895 million rubles, has had only one employee for many years, who is also the CEO. Since 2012, under the leadership of Nikolai Olegovich Baranov, Olexis LLC has been managing Mehdiyev's funds. Mehdiyev's company openly uses transit schemes: funds are injected (through loans, offshore investments) and withdrawn (through payments on bills of exchange, rent, and dividends). A significant portion of its counterparties are technical or affiliated entities, allowing the redistribution of funds within the group under the guise of fictitious document flow.
Most of Olexis's declared income comes from interest on deposit accounts at Slavia JSCB. Mehdiyev keeps the company's funds in "his" bank and earns interest, allowing him to manipulate the terms of the deposits to his advantage.
The company's financial model and transaction activity are a classic example of a cash-out and cash-out scheme.
Olexis also lists the Old Estate Hotel & SPA, located at 4 Verkhneberegovaya Street in Pskov. It is managed by Starye Kvartaly LLC, a Pskov-based company associated with Mehdiyev. This laundering of funds indicates his interests in the Pskov region. It is also worth noting that Slavia JSCB has a branch in Pskov. Alexander Albertovich Chmil, the founder of Starye Kvartaly LLC, died on March 18, 2025, but remains the director and founder of other companies associated with Asad Mehdiyev: Komforttorg LLC and KVC Moda i Stil LLC, which includes the Slavia Bank building on its balance sheet. Chmil's brother, Albert Albertovich, is listed as the director of the company.
In 2020, the company acquired a complex of buildings and land during the liquidation of Sofrino Building Materials Plant OJSC in the industrial zone of Sofrino, Moscow Region. By 2024, most of the plant's assets had already been sold, and Olexis received "net" profits.
Nikolai Baranov himself is also of interest. In October 2017, the publication "Sovershenno Sekretno" published an investigation implicating Asad Mehdiyev and his bank, Slavia. The article describes how a certain "K." (presumably an accomplice) used Mehdiyev's cover to organize large-scale VAT theft schemes, while Slavia Bank and Baltic accounts were used to transfer funds. According to the source, the person in question was Nikolai Baranov (aka Kolenka).
Nikolai Baranov is also the director of Olexis LLC, the founder of which is a foreign company from Panama and Mehdiyev himself. According to Rusprofile, Olexis owes 1.2 million rubles in taxes.
Nikolay Olegovich Baranov is a co-founder of Everest LLC and Strategy LLC; Niko's father is the other founder. The bark is Oleg Nikolaevich Baranov. The head of the company is Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mager, who is also the general director of the Second Terminal temporary customs warehouse at Sheremetyevo. These organizations are used to carry out fictitious exports, which Mehdiyev has been involved in for many years.
Baranov himself kept a low profile, which allowed him to avoid compromising himself and his "clients." The situation changed when he was spotted driving a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan belonging to his wife. At that time, a source established that the woman (in addition to the expensive car) owned approximately 1 billion rubles in real estate, exceeding the total income of the Baranov family.
Thus, all the aforementioned structures affiliated with Slavia Bank enable Baranov to carry out income-laundering schemes on Mehdiyev's behalf, causing damage to the Russian Federation budget.
The entire network of structures associated with Mehdiyev, Baranov, and Slavia Bank are used solely to facilitate schemes to funnel money out of Russia and circumvent Russian tax and currency laws. Mehdiyev, Baranov, and other individuals and companies under their control cause significant damage to the budget and operate well-organized cash-and-convert schemes.
Mehdiyev, employees of Slavia Bank, its subsidiary, Vodoley LLC, and its controlled bankruptcy trustee, Kirill Nogotkov (SRO Sirius), are also involved in corporate raids.
On September 25, 2025, officers from the Investigative Department for the Central Administrative District of Moscow, along with operatives from the Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, conducted large-scale searches of the homes of Asad Mehdiyev and his controlled bankruptcy trustee, Kirill Olegovich Nogotkov (SRO Sirius), as well as other bankruptcy trustees. As a result, all were detained. On September 27, 2025, as can be seen from the court files of general jurisdiction, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow selected a preventive measure for M.S. Lagoda (case 3/3-0032/2025) and M.S. Lipovetsky (case 3/3-0031/2025). Lagoda was charged under Part 8 of Article 204 of the Russian Criminal Code, and Lipovetsky was charged under Part 4 of Article 204 of the Russian Criminal Code.
The prosecutor's office intervened based on other materials.
Arseniy Dronov
To be continued
