Biography:
Alexey Kalinichenko was born on July, 13, 1979 in Sverdlovsk. He studied at high school №13 where he finished a nine-year program. He has to repeat a year in the last, ninth grade of the program. After graduating from high school he attempted to continue his education and enrolled in college majoring in accounting, control and analysis of economic activity, but six months later he dropped out and began to work. His first job was sales agent in Patriot, his father’s company. The company was the founder of the Union of Afghan Veterans. In 1995 Kalinichenko received a certificate of private entrepreneurs without establishing a legal person (CHPBOYUL).
In 2003-2006 together with his partners he established Livingston Investment, Global Gaming Expo Ltd., UTG Ltd., through which the citizens were subject to money extortion supposedly for Forex Trading. People were promised a decent weekly interest.
Since 2006 he has been head of forex transactions department in Bank24.ru.
In June 2006 he left Russia.
In 2006 filed 157 criminal cases were initiated against Kalinichenko. These are cases under Article 159, part 2, 3, and 4 of the Criminal Code (large scale fraud) and under Article 174.1, part 2 of the Criminal Code (legalization of criminal assets).
In 2007 he was put on the international wanted list.
In 2008 he was arrested in Italy.
In 2009 Kalinichenko left Italy
In 2010 he was arrested in Morocco.
Awards:
YA Gagarin Medal (2005)
Appreciation to the Ministry of the Interior
Appreciation and a commemorative medal of the International Charitable Fund Constantine
Appreciation and a commemorative medal of the State Hermitage Museum
Appreciation of the Chess Federation of St. Petersburg
Alexey Kalinichenko is the inspirer and editor of Metsenat magazine
Source: information collected by Russian Mafia web-site (rumafia.com)
Dossier:
In 2003 Alexey Kalinichenko organized an Internet-based scam and deceived investors extorting up to a billion rubles, according to the Attorney General's Office. According to statements by Kalinichenko, the total number of his partners in the pyramid was more than 4,000 people, and the amount of funds under control ran up to 150 million US dollars. The system worked flawlessly for a year and a half; the number of contributors increased steadily. It all ended in August 2006. For several weeks the company stated level of profitability at zero, then stopped sending financial reports to investors.
On August, 16, 2006 investors received a message from Kalinichenko in which the entrepreneur informed them of the collapse of his company, accusing the managers of the structures established by him. He also accused Bank24.ru where the entrepreneur had his account and which acted as broker in their operations.
Source: banki.ru, 09 September 2009
Global Gaming Expo operated the following way. The client had to open an account in any bank and from this account transfer funds to the account of GGE, which was opened in Yekaterinburg in Bank24.ru. The client then got access to the system UTG-Account, through which he could manage his funds: conduct transfers and declare the withdrawal of money. Further, the money allegedly accumulated in the account offshore company Livingston Investment, registered on the island of Nevis. After the trade operations were over the money went to clients' accounts. According to the police, a profit from the deals was supposed to be divided as follows: the investor receives 70%, Alexey Kalinichenko receives 24%, and 6% went to the mediator, that is, Bank24.ru. After the collapse of the company, Kalinichenko accused Feliks Porin, head of GGE, and Sergey Efimov, head of UTG and Bank24.ru. According Kalinichenko, "large sums of money were illegally withdrawn from the account of GGE in Bank24.ru", after which the bank closed access for the businessman to his personal accounts. Kalinichenko explained his escape from Russia by the fact that feared for his life.
Source: Politsovet, 06 August 2009
Bank24.ru is a middle size Yekaterinburg bank with strong ambitions. Current management bought it in 2003. The bank is involved in several scandals. It bought a stake in Stroyplastpolimer. A well-known socio-political movement Uralmash attempted to take the stake over. As a result, Alexander Khabarov, the leader of the Uralmash, was found hanged in a cell and the other leader of the movement was sentenced. Sergey Lapshin, the owner of the bank, gained control of the Uralmash plant. The second story is related to the Nizhny Tagil boiler and radiator factory. Bank24.ru bought 30% in it from the family of the previous CEO, killed who was killed by the owners. Further, the bank got involved in a long-term raider war with the killers and successfully pushed for the dismissal of the mayor of Nizhny Tagil, who defended the plant and its owners.
Source: Antivor, 11 August 2008
Although the case against Kalinichenko was under investigation for several years, it was not established where the company investors' funds ended up. Experts assumed that neither Kalinichenko, nor his partners had the money. It seemed improbable to them that a 25-year-old businessman with no higher education and who did not even speak English was able to independently build a complex financial structure, to establish contacts with businessmen and regulatory agencies, banking community and major investors. It is much more likely that the Kalinichenko was helped and supported by certain structures which at some point of time decided to put an end to the pyramid and withdraw the money. In this case, both the investors and the organizers of the pyramid did not benefit from it in any way. However, experts agree that this would have been impossible without the cooperation of either the trader or his business partners.
Source: UralBusinessConsulting, 18 March 2008
In June 2008 Interpol found Kalinichenko in Italy. He was detained; the court in Florence released him under house arrest. In October 2009 Italian Supreme Court authorized the extradition of Kalinichenko by the Attorney General's Office, but he escaped. In 2010 Interpol system established Kalinichenko’s whereabouts and he was arrested in Rabat. Moroccan authorities agreed to extradite Kalinichenko to Russia.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 19 January 2010
In St. Petersburg Kalinichenko published the magazine Metsenat. He donated an engraving worth over 100 thousand dollars to the Hermitage. He had many medals and awards in finance. He was awarded the Russian Financial Olympus prize in nomination Best FOREX trustee in Russia.
Source: RIA Novosti, 07 October 2009