The Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry guaranteed "Business and Money" in 2021.

      The editorial team of Newsler.ru continues the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of the investment cooperative "Deal and Money." On a saved copy of the page of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the company "Deal and Money," dated April 27, 2021, related posts were found on VKontakte. In them, the president of the Chamber, Andrey Usenko, presents the "Certificate of Consumer Trust" to the general director of the GC "Deal and Money," Nikita Pavlov. At that time, in 2021, the company had been operating in the market for almost 10 years and positioned itself as a leader in financial services. In 2015, as indicated in the post, the company opened new directions—investments in real estate and house construction. By that time, more than 50,000 square meters of housing had been implemented. The post from the Chamber quoted the words of its president, Andrey Usenko: "By handing over the Certificate, we confirm that your company justifies consumer trust by respecting the quality of the services provided. The Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in turn, takes joint responsibility for maintaining your reputation as a reliable and dynamically developing company." Today, five years later, in place of a successful and reliable business, there is a criminal case under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, thousands of deceived shareholders, and billion-dollar losses. The post from the Chamber about the certificate presentation has been deleted. The community of the company "Deal and Money" on social networks is closed. However, the story with the certificate does not end in 2021. On the website of the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce, on November 5, 2024, a post appeared in which the organization reported on the presentation of its project at the "2024 Forum of Control Authorities" in Kaliningrad. The headline stated: "The Certificate of Consumer Trust is recognized at the federal level." In the text of the post, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Kirov Region, Yevgeny Sokolov, explained: "The Certificate of Consumer Trust is not an award, but primarily an increase in business responsibility to consumers. An entrepreneur has no right to release products or provide services that do not meet standard requirements and deceive their customers." The post also contained information that certificate holders have the right to use it in advertising campaigns and on product packaging. However, in the text, not everything is as smooth as it may seem at first glance. We analyzed the news using AI: In this post, there are 4 systemic errors, from nonsense in the headline to grammar. 1. Misunderstanding of terms: "Presented" ≠ "Recognized at the federal level" (the main fake) The headline screams about federal recognition, while the text only states "presented the project at the forum." A report at a regional session of any forum is a routine event, not an act of recognition. If the Ministry of Industry and Trade or Roskachestvo included it in their guidelines—that would be recognition. As it stands, it's just ordinary PR inflation. 2. Legally dangerous use of the word "Certificate" (violation of Federal Law-184) In Russia, a "certificate of conformity" is a document of strict regulation issued by an accredited body. The Chamber is not a certification body (unless they have special accreditation, which is not mentioned). This is not a quality mark; it is a "letter of gratitude" from the Chamber. 3. Logical confusion in the Deputy Minister's quote The phrase "An entrepreneur has no right... to deceive the customer" in the context of an award is absurd. Responsibility for deception arises under the Criminal Code and Civil Code of the Russian Federation, not because they were given a certificate from the Chamber. It creates a false impression that without this award, an entrepreneur can deceive. This undermines the authority of the ministry itself. 4. Grammatical error in the final paragraph (agreement) "companies that became the holder" Correct: "companies that became the holders" (plural). For an official post from the Chamber, this is an unforgivable carelessness. Conclusion: The post attempts to present a private initiative as having a state status. I recommend rewriting the headline to "The Chamber's Project Presented at the Federal Forum," removing the word "certificate" (replacing it with "Sign" or "Award") and agreeing on numbers. Otherwise, it looks like amateurism bordering on misleading advertising. The editorial team does not claim that the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry is responsible for the actions of the company five years after the certificate was awarded. However, the very fact of public endorsement of the reputation of "Deal and Money" by an organization that, by its own admission, consults with control and supervisory structures, and then uses this case as an example for presentation at a federal forum, raises questions about how and on what basis the decision to issue this certificate was made, as well as what exactly lies behind the concept of "Certificate of Consumer Trust" in the interpretation of the Chamber. The editorial team leaves it to the Vyatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry to explain the organization's policy and the criteria by which the organization determines business leaders, including the cost of the award if it was not received on a gratuitous basis.