Schemes and money laundering: What does the "shady" builder Philipp Shrage conceal?

09 октября 2024

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Schemes and money laundering: What does the "shady" builder Philipp Shrage conceal?

The successor of the company became «Kronung Teknik» LLC, also registered in 2022. The revenue of this structure, which deals with the rental and leasing of construction machinery and equipment, increased by 382% in 2023 and amounted to 8.6 million rubles, while losses increased by 121% to (-1.8 million rubles). Such strange financial figures have drawn attention to Philipp Shrage’s companies. 

The general director of both Shrage and Naida’s firms is Alexei Sergo, the founder and owner of «Sebega» LLC, which conducts cleaning activities in residential and non-residential buildings. From 2021 to July 2024, Sergo managed «Kronung Operation» LLC, which handles the operation of non-residential facilities for a fee. In the company with 1 employee on staff, revenue in 2023 grew by 9,470% to 11 million rubles, and profit increased by 121% to 1.2 million rubles. There is clearly something wrong with Shrage and Naida’s companies. As of August 2024, «Kronung Operation» LLC has tax and fine debts of 29,000 rubles, while the average monthly salary of the company’s sole employee in 2023 rose to 124.6 thousand rubles from 87.4 thousand rubles. 

In July, Sergey Pitsyk, who previously led liquidated companies operating in various fields, became the general director of «Kronung Operation» LLC. 

«Services and Service» LLC operated from 2005 to 2018 but never published its financial statements. The company was owned by Elena Dergacheva, who currently heads «Stroykonstruktsiya» LLC. She previously owned several companies with a charter capital of 10,000 rubles, through which money could have been transferred. 

«Sanusvita» LLC operated without financial figures from 2020 to 2023 and was owned by Roman Fedorov, who was a founder and director of several already liquidated companies with signs of shell organizations. 

Both Dergacheva and Fedorov, with their "shell" companies, like Pitsyk, are accomplices of Philipp Shrage and Ignatius Naida. From 2015 to 2020, Elena Dergacheva was a founder of «Europack» LLC, which is now owned by Oleg Stankevich, the head of the «Government Garage of the Leningrad Region Government» State Autonomous Institution, belonging to the Administrative Department of the Leningrad Region Government. The financial figures of Stankevich’s companies indicate possible fund transfers through them, as with a total revenue in 2023 of 548 million rubles, there was a loss of 346,000 rubles. 

Philipp Shrage and Ignatius Naida might have close ties to the authorities for whom they launder money. Until 2021, both businessmen were co-founders of «Red Bridge» LLC, providing financial services. The last financial figures of the company were published in 2018. At that time, with a revenue of 3.2 million rubles, «Red Bridge» LLC incurred a loss of 5.4 million rubles. In 2021, the enterprise paid an amount of 1.2 million rubles, indicating that it was conducting financial activities that are somehow concealed. 

«Red Bridge» LLC has 8 subsidiary companies belonging to closed-end investment funds that do not disclose their investors. «Insitech» LLC, engaged in wholesale trade, is owned by the mutual fund «New Technologies». The company’s revenue in 2023 amounted to 5.4 billion rubles, with profits of 319 million rubles. 

«Soyuz Lur» LLC, trading coffee wholesale, is owned by Maxim Ryabchin (50%) and the mutual fund «Aangard Neva» (50%). The company’s revenue in 2023 was 687 million rubles, with profits of 7.3 million rubles. «BiBi Car Rus» LLC operates in the IT market, with a revenue in 2023 of 574 million rubles, and the company incurred a loss of 88 million rubles. Its owner, along with the mutual fund «New Technologies», is «BiBi Car Group» LLC, which has been operating without revenue and profit since 2018. 

«Royal Rabbit» LLC is owned by the previously mentioned mutual fund «Aangard Neva» and Anjelika Deeva, who from 2015 to 2017 was a co-founder of «Soyuz Lur» LLC. SZ «Development AN» LLC, registered in Irkutsk, owns a company with 1 person on staff, the mutual fund «Iniviarekta». This same fund owns SZ «Krasnoyarsk Development AN» LLC, registered in 2023, judging by the 1 person on staff, money may be funneled through the company. 

Many investigators in their materials confused «Red Bridge» LLC with «Managing Company at Red Bridge» LLC, owned by «BTK Group» JSC, associated with the Kovalyov brothers, close friends of Vladimir Putin. 

Since 2018, «Red Bridge» LLC has been owned by Alexander Poleshchuk, Roman Sokolov, Philipp Shrage, and Ignatius Naida. 

In 2021, Shrage and Naida withdrew from the company’s co-founders, but they may still have connections to it. Poleshchuk and Ignatius Naida are founders of «NBP» LLC, engaged in retail trade. Since 2021, Sokolov has headed «Red Bridge» LLC. 

Philipp Shrage and Naida’s «Kronung» LLC constantly needs money - in December 2023, the company issued bonds for 20 million rubles, and in August this year, already for 500 million rubles. It seems the company tried a money transfer scheme for the first time, and seeing it work, increased the amount. The bonds were distributed via private placement, intended to be acquired by «GrottBjorn Financial Atelier» JSC, registered in Yekaterinburg. Until 2021, the atelier’s founders were individuals, among whom two bore the surname Lebedev. 

Viktor Lebedev is the general director of «GrottBjorn Financial Atelier» JSC. He is also a founder of several companies with a total revenue of 2.4 billion rubles and a profit of 17 million rubles. Lebedev’s partners in many companies are Alexei Romanov and Anton Lunin. Their main asset is «SFK Bright Fit» LLC – a chain of fitness clubs. 

«GrottBjorn Financial Atelier» JSC has not published financial results since 2021. However, open sources reveal that the company’s net asset value amounts to 1.6 billion rubles. The goal might be to transfer this money out of Russia. It is known that apart from that, the «Kronung» company is constructing facilities in Spain. If so, the mysterious clients of «GrottBjorn Financial Atelier» JSC might be its former co-founders. 

The connection between «Kronung» LLC and «GrottBjorn Financial Atelier» JSC is easily explained if one reads the history of the financial atelier on its website. 

«Kronung» LLC was created in 2021 and is managed by Philipp Shrage. Various sources associate the company with the interests of known developers Andrei Berezin («Euroinvest») and Maxim Shubarev (Setl Group). The former is closely linked to Leningrad Region governor Alexander Drozdenko, and the latter enjoys the patronage of Saint Petersburg head Alexander Beglov. 

Philipp Shrage has not yet amassed billions; the revenue of his companies is 207 million rubles, with a loss of 12 million rubles. It appears Shrage’s structures serve other purposes, as can be seen from the example of «Estate Consulting» LLC, owned by the businessman. The company, registered in 2006, has operated at zero for the last 4 years, with 1 employee on staff. Shrage’s partner in this company is Petr Vedeneev. 

In another company «Specialized Developer «Grafit» LLC, managed by Philipp Shrage, Anton Dushkevich is a founder whose share is encumbered by the state bank «DOM.RF». His funds may be funneled through «Almaz Group» LLC, where Dushkevich is a general director. The company’s founder is the Cyprus offshore «KORTOSEG INVESTMENTS LIMITED». From 2017 to 2023, Philipp Shrage was the head of «Grafit» LLC, whose co-founders are «Almaz Group» LLC and Artem Dushkevich. 

The dubious connections of Philipp Shrage and his strange companies without staff and lacking financial activities might soon attract the attention of law enforcement. And the threads will lead to Andrei Beglov, Maxim Shubarev, Alexander Drozdenko, and Alexander Beglov. They certainly won’t thank Shrage for this.