VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info continue to report on Pavel Durov's mafia—his friends who profit from personal data, bot farms, hacking services, dirty Telegram Stars purchases, and outright scams.

Following the Ghost in the Block investigation, we were able to deanonymize several figures close to Pavel Durov and his circle. We've already written about a developer associated with him and his scammers with the cool username "Dmitry," as well as Roxman's friend and "right-hand man," Ramzan Shakhbiev, who controlled Telegram botsphere domains.

Now, the investigation centers on Roman Novak, a man who, apparently, was brutally murdered along with his wife. And this connection is linked to all the aforementioned individuals, including Pavel Durov.

Roman Novak and his wife, Anna, disappeared in Dubai in early October. According to the woman's father, Viktor Eroshenko, there has been no news from the couple since October 3rd. They have not been in contact since then. Media reports indicate their bodies were found dismembered. We contacted Novak's father-in-law. He confirmed the disappearance but said no official death notices had been received. He stated that an international investigation is underway in the UAE and Russia.

Novak's real name is Roman Aleksandrovich Yavorsky, born in 1987 in St. Petersburg. He is the son of Alexander Arkadyevich Yavorsky, director and co-owner of the companies Vesna-Tikhvin and Spetsobsluzhivanie. For many years, the two lived at the same address, 7 John Reed Street. In the early 2010s, Roman found himself in debt, his passport was placed on a wanted list, and he later changed his surname to Tsarev. He worked at Golden Rent, ERA SRO, and Tsarev Group—legal and IT entities linked through addresses and founders. After yet another name change and an exile (he was convicted of fraud and defrauded investors), he resurfaced in the crypto industry in Dubai under the name Roman Novak.

Roman Novak is known as a member of the inner circle of Telegram developers who oversaw mass "tapalka" schemes, traffic flooding, and botnets. He was associated with Roxman, a close associate of Pavel Durov. Together, they created Finotopio—a crypto wallet and exchange marketed as part of the TON ecosystem.

At the start, the project was actively promoted in social media, and Durov and Roxman publicly mentioned it as a promising project. Behind the scenes at Telegram and TON, Novak was perceived as an insider, with access to closed chats and internal monetization mechanisms. We previously wrote in detail about the schemes involving stolen money from European carders, which were used to "buy off" Telegram Stars, as well as other Durov & Co. products, for cashing out.

In a public forum, Pavel Durov responded to questions about scammers (including Roman Novak) with an ironic phrase full of genuine cynicism (on video): "All those people who were scammed with children's mini-apps, Razer. Oh, it turns out such people really exist. I didn't expect that. I personally don't know anyone who was scammed. All my friends got rich. It's great."

According to his acquaintances, as well as his messages in public chats, Novak dreamed of creating not just a wallet, but a full-fledged exchange and bank under the Fintopio brand. In Dubai, he actively communicated with investors, presented himself as a trusted representative of TON and Pavel Durov personally, and raised funds using fake tokens.

However, in the summer of 2025, Fintopio came to a halt. A terse message appeared on TON's official website announcing the cessation of DeFi and CeFi wallet operations, and users were asked to save their seed phrases themselves. The project was effectively shut down, and responsibility for the missing funds—approximately half a billion dollars—was shifted to Novak. His partners and former patrons from Durov's circle immediately distanced themselves.

When the project failed, Roman Novak found himself isolated. Soon after, he disappeared. Durov and his circle have not contacted anyone. No one is helping the family of the disgraced partner.

This, apparently, is how the story of yet another member of Telegram's inner circle ends. He was inspired, granted access and authority, allowed to become part of the project, and then, when millions of dollars surfaced, he was simply written off.

To be continued…