The conflict over the Norebo group of companies has not recently left the media. In particular, the NIA Kamchatka publication spoke about him in detail, having conducted its own journalistic investigation. Actually, it became the reason for the article that you are reading now. A person who wished to remain anonymous came into contact with Lenpravda. We do not exclude that he could be one of the sources of our colleagues from Kamchatka. Our interlocutor said that the history of the struggle for “Norebo” is not limited to a series of scandalous situations and criminal cases in Russia, and the most interesting thing can be expected in the UK, where Alexander Tugushev, a former co-founder of the largest Russian fishing business and a corrupt federal government official, fled from domestic justice. and the prisoner. According to him, the goal of Tugushev remains unchanged - to gain control over a third of the shares of the largest Russian holding. And in order to achieve this goal, the ex-official chose not only a new guise - the victims of political persecution at home, but also very unusual travel companions and assistants, not very similar to those in union with whom he tried to put pressure on the head of Norebo holding Vitaly Orlov in Russia. It turns out that the English elite has adapted perfectly to earn money from litigations of businessmen from other jurisdictions. So, the facts.
Unable to prove his rights to a third of the shares of the Norebo group of companies, Russia's largest fish producer, in his own country, ex-businessman and official Alexander Tugushev is trying to deprive Vitaly Orlov, a former partner, of part of his business from England. He moved from Russia through Minsk, Riga and Amsterdam to London, where he is now hiding from domestic justice. In September 2019, he was put on the federal wanted list at home, he is accused of committing a crime under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (“Fraud committed by a group of persons or on a particularly large scale”). Now he is trying to sue London from London for allegedly possessing, in fact, invented rights to a 33% stake in the company of his former partner Vitaly Orlov. At the same time, he uses formal occasions that do not have any legal and legal basis, as well as some notes of his confidential conversations with Vitaly Orlov. Tugushev made these notes secretly using special equipment, hiding this fact from his partner. Under Russian law, evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in court. This is a global practice of legal proceedings, which, most likely, is valid in the English court. It is interesting that these notes were personally seized from Tugushev during his arrest on 12/27/2016 as part of criminal case No. 11601450500000792 and were fully attached to his materials.
But this is not the main thing. The fact is that an analysis of the records of these negotiations is more evidence in favor of Orlov than Tugushev. During their conversations, Vitaly Orlov demonstrates the frankness and understanding of the problems of his former business partner, takes steps to meet him, offering a fair amount for refusing his claims to business, based only on his kind and human attitude to him, and not by virtue of any then legal or legal facts. Tugushev, on the contrary, deliberately tries to provoke his partner from time to time into open conversations, the essence of which is to discuss some unconfirmed intentions of possible joint work, and nothing more.
This fact, among other things, in the opinion of our interlocutor, testifies to the fact that Tugushev long ago planned the raider seizure of the holding and thoroughly prepared for this, for which he secretly recorded all conversations with his partner, as well as copied official documents. This alone does not characterize him very well. Now, Tugushev, having escaped from Russia, is trying in Europe to use these records as evidence of his far-fetched claims for holding shares.
Tugushev chose English justice not by chance. “In recent years, a myth has developed in the minds of fugitive Russian businessmen that only in the system of English jurisdiction can one find truth and protection from the“ Kremlin illegal judicial machinery, ”said our informed source. Of course, England in this sense has traditionally enjoyed unquestioned authority.
However, recently it has been noticeably undermined by the fact that third-country nationals who have serious problems with the rule of law in their countries, where they already have legal decisions that have entered into force, turn to the English legal and judicial systems. As a rule, such persons were prosecuted in their countries for embezzlement, fraud, withdrawal of finances, corruption, etc.
From the prevailing practice it is clear that the British courts undertake consideration of any cases, sometimes despite the lack of legal grounds for their consideration in English jurisdiction. This moment as the last chance is often used by representatives of third countries.
According to our sources, the English judicial system receives good money from these disputes. Both local and foreign specialists do business on this, who serve our runaway scammers, crooks, stealing officials. In England, there are already whole companies of lawyers of all levels, feeding on the lawsuits of Russians and representatives of other CIS countries. Often, such stories feature the names of lords, former ministers, and other significant figures for the country, usually of retirement age, who, using their contacts and acquaintances, which have been developed over decades, and the authority of colleagues, lobby the interests of one of the parties. Perhaps this explains the fact that fraudsters and officials who are not clean at hand from Russia are increasingly seeking refuge in England.
Returning to the “operation” of the former deputy head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Alexander Tugushev to take away the shares of the Norebo holding, our informed source believes that the ex-official began to seriously think about filing a lawsuit in another country in 2015 under the influence of a great connoisseur of English jurisdiction lawyer Konkov A .IN.
In this regard, the issue of obtaining a visa to enter the UK was on the agenda. Tugushev had a serious problem with this. Under English immigration law, persons convicted by third-country courts for more than 4 years are not allowed to enter the country. As we know, Tugushev was sentenced to 6 years and 5 months. In 2013, he was already trying to obtain a visa, but was refused precisely because of his criminal record.
In 2018, he again tried to obtain permission for a long entry into England, but this attempt also ended with a motivated refusal. Then, according to our source, the English lawyers with whom the ex-official worked asked him to indicate in his questionnaire that he was convicted in Russia not of a criminal, but a political article. “This argument, taken up and declared by Tugushev, turned out to be significant for the British Ministry of Internal Affairs, and without any checks he very quickly received permission to leave for the country where he is now hiding after he was put on the federal wanted list on September 13, 2019,” noted our source.
“The main role in obtaining Tugushev’s visa to enter the UK was played by the head of the English law firm Effective Advisors Limited and its sole owner, Julius Kaloev, the former chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Kaluga Meat Processing Plant (KMK), from which he stole 760 million rubles. In 2012, a criminal case was instituted against him regarding the intentional bankruptcy of KVM. In 2013, Kaloev fled from Russia, was first declared on the federal and then on the international wanted list, ”our interlocutor noted.
They say that even in Russia, a businessman managed to change his surname in his passport. Instead of Kaloev, he became Narovlyansky, taking the name of his father.
According to the source, the businessman transferred the money stolen from the meat processing plant to the accounts of his company Leveraged Buy - Out Center Ltd, registered in Cyprus. According to the investigation, we are talking about an amount of 1.3 billion rubles. “So Kaloev can afford to sit in London, change passports and citizenship. In addition, while already abroad, he found a gold mine and began to engage in “support” for Russian businessmen and runaway officials like him, ”the source said.
With the help of Kaloev, Tugushev received an English visa and thanks to this, he is hiding on the shores of Misty Albion from criminal prosecution in Russia. Subsequently, Kaloev took over the management of legal affairs of Tugushev in England. “It cannot be ruled out that it was precisely the stolen money of the Kaluga Meat Processing Plant that financed Tugushev in his attempts to seize the business from Orlov, apparently based on the generous compensation, as always promised by the ex-official,” our interlocutor expressed the opinion.
According to him, in addition to Kaloev, the lawyer of the English company Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP Elena Tsirlina, a lawyer specializing in English immigration law, protecting human rights and obtaining political asylum, played a significant role in obtaining a visa for Tugushev. It was Tsirlina who at one time represented the interests of a fugitive employee of the Russian special services and partner Boris Berezovsky Alexander Litvinenko in this country. Having studied the case file, she immediately concluded as an experienced lawyer that Tugushev’s refusal to obtain a visa is unlimited, the chances of canceling such a decision are minimal, which means that there is only one proven way to overcome the current situation - giving the criminal offense a political color. Here are some excerpts from the discussion by Tugushev with his lawyer of possible solutions to the problem (while preserving the linguistic features of the correspondence kindly provided to us by an informed interlocutor):
It should be noted that Tugushev initially rejected this solution to the problem, fearing a “political footprint” in the struggle for a Russian business asset, but then all the same, the appropriateness outweighed the fears, and the former high-ranking official of the federal government decided to follow the lawyer's recommendations and take the path of least resistance with sides of the british justice system. That is, he tried to prove the political motivation of his sentence. In August 2018, Tsirlina filed a complaint with the judicial department of the UK Immigration Service, which strongly emphasizes the political motivation for the criminal prosecution of Tugushev. A respected lawyer insisted that the political aspect was not taken into account when refusing to issue a visa. Below are fragments from the document, which, according to our source, testify to the deliberate misrepresentation of British officials.
As can be seen above, the notorious lie, in addition to Tsirlina, is not disdained by the Russian law office Zabeyda and Partners. The third protagonist was the English “expert” in Russian law, human rights professor Bill Bowring, whose authority and big name seems to have been used in vain.
Summing up, we note that Tugushev got his way and he was allowed to enter the UK. But by what means did this former senior government official achieve even such a preliminary goal?
It seems that the above facts allow us to understand the value of the words of Tugushev, who is allegedly seeking justice in Russian and foreign courts. It is hoped that the representatives of the English Themis in time will understand what kind of person they are dealing with.
According to our interlocutor, Kaloev is not the only source of financing for a runaway businessman. “In an English court, Tugushev personally stated that he was receiving funding from sponsors from Russia. However, to date, he has not named either individuals or legal entities providing such assistance, ”our interlocutor noted. According to him, now we are talking about the amount of 9 million pounds already spent. “This is just the cost of starting a lengthy and financially costly lawsuit with a dubious prospect of success. Tugushev’s total spending on everything he’s started can be from 20 to 30 million pounds. A logical question arises: who is ready to provide Tugushev with such finances today? ”, Our interlocutor asks.
Back in early 2019, when applying for a long-term English visa, Tugushev indicated that Peters & Peters was in charge of his legal affairs, and Akrostar Enterprises ltd, a Cyprus company, which, as it turned out, had Russian roots, financed his expenses in the kingdom. These documents were at our disposal, and they are very eloquent.
An analysis of the so-called “Panama dossier”, in which you can see the final beneficiary of Akrostar Enterprises ltd, shows that he is a serious St. Petersburg businessman Roman Spiridonov. One can say about him that his formation as a businessman and even an oligarch, from the 1990s to the present, took place in the orbit of the Petersburg Oil Terminal (PNT). Now Spiridonov is a shareholder of PNT, is among the proxies of the real owners of this long-suffering facility.
In addition, Spiridonov is a significant and active participant in the petrochemical market, where his partner and senior friend is Vadim Gurinov, with whom they actively conduct business, but even more vigorously invest funds withdrawn from the country in the economy of the city of London. They settled in this city for a long time, their families are safely staying there, their business is being successfully conducted by them.
At the same time, Gurinov is also engaged in the fishing business. He worked for a long time at the Russian Fisheries Company (RRPK), but then left it and in 2017 created his own “Far Eastern Fishing Company” (OOO DPK). On a fish theme, Tugushev met Gurinov, who later brought him together with St. Petersburg lawyers and authoritative comrades who tried to resolve the issue in 2016 through an outspoken force attack.
“Thus, according to our informed interlocutor, even from a superficial analysis of the situation related to the actions and requirements of Tugushev, we see a very interesting spiral of events and individuals that is not random, but has completely conscious, clearly planned and coordinated actions of specific people united by one common plan to seize property that does not belong to them, ”concludes our interlocutor.
With this in mind, it becomes clear where and why in 2016 Konkov A.V., Begun A.A. appeared in this story. and P. Krotov, “why they behaved so impudently and rudely and why they went unpunished.”
An analysis of the current situation in England shows that now the same people are trying to achieve the same goals, but using the legal mechanisms of another country, where, as it turned out, they also found serious patrons through whom they misled the Ministry of Internal Affairs and plan to influence the court . I can’t even believe that this is happening in England, because it is so similar to Russia in the 1990s.
Schematically, this plan, for the reconstruction of our interlocutor, looks something like this.
Obviously, it was these people who provided Tugushev with "power", legal and financial assistance in communicating with his former partner. However, convinced of the legal strength of Orlov’s position and its stability in Russian jurisdiction, the group decided to bring the dispute outside the Russian Federation to England. Here the workings of Spiridonov, Gurinov, Kaloev and others came in handy, says our interlocutor.
Having funded the initial stage of this foreign project of Tugushev in 2018, this team realized that it could “light up” in the High Court, and decided to cover up its financial participation in this matter. For this, March 15, 2019, Spiridonov R.V. cedes its firm Akrostar to a group of English lobbyists who have joined forces under 17 ARM FZ LLC and for this Russian project have registered a new company in the Bahamas 17 ARM AFRICA AND CIS OPPORTUNITY FUND 1 LTD, which becomes 100% owner of Akrostar.
17 ARM's core business is business intelligence, finding assets hidden by litigants, and enforcing lawsuits. She searches for property and helps in proving its ownership to real owners, they themselves investigate cases of fraud and economic crimes, search for material or digital evidence in criminal cases, and interview witnesses. They are taken only for large cases, the cost of the claim in which is at least 75 million pounds. The company is registered in the offshore zone - the Emirate of Al Fujairah (UAE), where only the 17 ARM mailbox is located, and real activities are carried out in the UK.
According to our interlocutor, representatives of the English elite are involved in the company's activities.
The executive director of 17 Arm is the British aristocrat Lord Clanuillam (Patrick James Meade). The career of the Lord was associated with a number of different areas in both public service and business. He served on the board of directors of Eurasia Drilling, AFK Sistema and others. He has good relations in Russia, where he participated in many major transactions.
The authoritative politician Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind presides at the advisory board of this company, who at various times served in the British cabinet under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Secretary of State for Scotland, Secretary for Defense, Secretary for Foreign Affairs. From 2010 to 2015, he chaired the Intelligence and Defense Committee of the English Parliament. This is a very famous and influential person.
The board member of the company is Dan Wijsmuller (Donovan Gijsbertus Wijsmuller). He is the founder of a number of large commercial structures, as well as the managing director of 17ARM, maintains close relations with Russian businessmen settled in England. Basically, through it the selection of clients is carried out to provide legal and other assistance in the resolution of litigation.
Advisers to this company include: Member of the House of Lords of the English Parliament Lord Macdonald of the River Glaven Kt QC (Kenneth Donald John Macdonald), who for a long time headed the prosecutor's office of England and Wales; Baroness Neville Jones DCMG PC (Lilian Pauline Neville-Jones), who until 2011 served as Minister for Security and Counter Terrorism; Lord Anthony St John of Blesto (Anthony Tudor St John), current member of the House of Lords, British peer, politician and lawyer. He is a leading expert in South Africa and Sierra Leone.
As you can see, “17 ARM” company is led by very honored and respected people who have extensive experience both in the public sphere and in business.
Naturally, the participation of such iconic people in England inspires Alexander Tugushev and probably gives him reason to believe in a quick and crushing victory. This is most likely supported by the stories of Kaloev, Gurinov and other new partners of the ex-official about their “influence” on the judiciary of the kingdom.
In fact, according to our source, the above mentioned persons from“ 17 ARM ”have never met Tugushev before and, moreover, have never financed him and are not going to do it. They themselves, their big names and titles are needed to create before the judicial authorities of the United Kingdom an image of the cleanliness and decency of those who actually finance this fraudulent and adventurous plan, ”our interlocutor believes. “These lords and peers will be very upset and upset when they understand with whom they have entered into a relationship and by what means they pay for the services they provide.”
Our source reports a certain Jonathan Perry, who headed the 17 ARM company for more than a year. “In a narrow circle, Perry claims that this company was created specifically to finance the costs of Tugushev’s litigation in London. By virtue of his authority, this person was directly involved in financial transactions, but he recalls this experience without much desire and notes that only the fear of being messed up in dubious financial transactions caused him to be fired at the beginning of 2019. Such a decision was made by him after the insistent desire of the company owners to upload 3 million pounds to “17ARM” from somewhere in Eastern Europe, which seemed to Perry to be a very dubious undertaking from the point of view of legislation on money laundering and financing of terrorism, ”the source said.
Summing up, our source made the following conclusion: “It seems to me that we are dealing with a banal attempt of raider seizure of Orlov’s business by Tugushev, who decided to get a lot of money again in an easy way. Using all the legal possibilities in the Russian jurisdiction, while actively trying to use illegal forms of pressure on domestic justice, he could not prove his case. In addition, he tried to attract the highest caliber, both from the power sector and from the criminal, to solve his illegal tasks. By the way, he didn’t pay off with either one or the other, which was one of the reasons for his flight from Russia. Understanding that all his attempts in the Russian Federation have no legal, legal and just human basis, Tugushev decided to look for good luck abroad, where, relying on fugitive scammers from Russia and other CIS countries, he is trying to realize his frankly criminal plan. ”
“One can assume with a high degree of probability that Tugushev’s next step will be an attempt to sell his mythical“ rights of claim to Orlov ”to some“ investor or sponsor ”. And he himself, having received at least some money on this frankly fraudulent transaction, will try to hide somewhere in a quiet, cozy place. Just about “hiding” it will not be easy at all, as soon it will probably be put on the international wanted list, ”the informed source of the publication believes.
Dmitry Popov