All news for 2025-12-12

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, personally communicated in 2018 with Jan Marsalek, the former chief operating officer of Wirecard who is now wanted across Europe for large-scale financial fraud and, according to investigators, is linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU), the Financial Times reports.

The Nepalis were lured to Myanmar by promises of legitimate jobs, but said they were tortured and forced to work in scam compounds before being rescued.

Promoted as Russia’s largest event for business and entrepreneurs, Alfa-Conf, organized by Alfa Bank, instead revealed the empty state of the country’s corporate culture, descending into a bizarre mix of astrology, motivational clichés, and showbusiness chatter.

The difficult-to-pronounce surname Oxana Hadjipavlou (Oxana or Oksana Hadjipavlou) emerged during investigations into the activities of Zvonko Mickovic and the companies Mettmann Public Company Limited and Sword Dragon S.L., which are suspected of being involved in schemes to bypass anti-Russian sanctions and transfer Russian capital out of the Russian Federation.

Former Russian and billionaire Turlov, after emigrating, became one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan: his financial pyramids are now "thriving" in Astana.

One of Russia’s largest metal trading networks, Metallokomplekt M (formerly OJSC Komtekh), is preparing to exit the market after reporting record losses, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Croatian businessman Josip Heit is being examined for his suspected involvement in Ponzi schemes and money laundering.

This summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly praised Aurus luxury cars, stressing that the vehicles are a 100% Russian-made product and noting that he personally uses one.

Roman Novak (also known as Yavorsky and Tsaryov), a native of St. Petersburg, was convicted in Russia in 2020 on large-scale fraud charges (Part 4, Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced to six years in a penal colony.