Investment company against Kirov residents: the confrontation ended with a score of 35:0 million rubles

      Probably not without the feasible, or rather, not without the active participation of the police and the courts, who "did not actively" defend fifty local investors. Many of them, having left the struggle, have found cemetery peace forever. Or they gave up on disbelief in justice and the law, while receiving a disability group for "heart" and other diseases from prolonged stress. There was also a family that planned to pay for the operation of the child with dividends.

      Interestingly, back in 2016, the police not only initiated, but also practically brought to an end a criminal case on "large-scale embezzlement." But the death of the head of Centauri, Vera Konovalchuk, who was already actually accused of a crime, completed the case in 2020 "in connection with the death of the suspect."

      So the "embezzlement" of 35 million rubles (excluding dividends and interest since 2015), established and confirmed by the investigation, was probably commented on by the police in a standard way: "Although we are not Stock market experts, no one forced you to come there (to the Investment Company) ourselves."

      This April, the Arbitration Court put an end to further attempts by the victims to return at least a small fraction of their money, which could have been obtained from the sale of the one-room apartment of the deceased Konovalchuk, who was under arrest, who "signed off" her daughter and granddaughter on her property. However, the court granted the city administration's request and handed over a one-room "unattended living space" to the municipality.

      At the same time, the victims are likely to have to pay out of pocket the "legal costs of the opposing party."

      Offshore companies and empty stocks

      ...Back in 1993, the Financial and Investment Company Krona, which appeared under the regional leadership, specializing in the exchange of privatization checks, established CJSC Centaurus Investment Company with the help of several employees. Which, at that time, had a monopoly on securities transactions, offered Kirov residents to profitably sell or list shares of well-known companies on the stock exchange.

      At that time, the most "promising" securities were considered to be Gazprom, Norilsk Nickel and Sberbank. And later, some Kirov factories (mainly defense ones) and Kirenergo.

      The most "advanced" Kirov residents, who had not lost hope that the vouchers and shares of enterprises received during their exchange were not "empty pieces of paper", were few — several hundred people. Despite the fact that for the first 11 years, minority shareholders received only reports on the activities of companies. It was only in 2004, when the Russian Stock market stabilized, that the payment of dividends began.

      In 2008, CJSC was transformed into LLC Centaurus Investment Company (IC Centaurus), while retaining the license for the right to work with securities of private investors. In 2013, there were significant changes in financial regulations, and the functions of control over the Investment Company were transferred to the Central Bank.

      At the beginning of 2015, when the shareholders were paid profits based on the results of the previous year, IC Centaurus notified the depositors of the need to reissue the documents, concluding a contract for "information and consulting services" in connection with the reorganization instead of brokerage and depository agreements.

      At the same time, the company's management assured: "this is a simple formality." They say, "we are avoiding taxes in Moscow," so none of the clients paid attention to the fact that the "investment company" disappeared from the company's name and only Centaurus LLC remained. Seals, settlement accounts, INN and other banking details have also become different.

      In February 2016, investors received a notice that Centaurus LLC was being liquidated with a "liquidation balance sheet" with liabilities exceeding 40 million rubles. Three months later, on June 20, the Arbitration Court hastily declared Centaurus bankrupt and entered bankruptcy proceedings.

      As the investigation will later establish, "The Centaurus Investment Company was indeed sold to one of the capital's firms, which was only interested in licenses granting the right to operate with clients' securities. After that, the competitive weight of Centaurus LLC, consisting of unnecessary shares, depreciated to 300 thousand rubles.

      After numerous appeals to the police from the "left-behind" investors (of whom there were seven at first, and then their number grew to fifty), a criminal case on "embezzlement" was initiated and then repeatedly suspended (until complaints were received to the President and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Konstantin Selyanin). Although the victims have been insisting for years that it was "fraud" committed by a group of individuals. Among them, in their opinion, were not only Vera Konovalchuk, but also other co—founders of Centaurus - her daughter, who received all the real estate as a gift from her mother, and the company's lawyer.

      After Konovalchuk's death, the materials were put in a back drawer, although by that time the investigation had found a trace of part of the shares in offshore companies, but the pandemic killed the "police interest" at the same time. True, investors made repeated attempts to ensure that the case was resumed with criminal prosecution of the co-founders (they even wanted to achieve subsidiary liability through the court), but it was written off into the archive. So even the investors couldn't get an answer to the basic question: where is our money and shares?