"The Gambling Empire" by Sergey Kondratenko and his accomplices at 1xBet

"The Gambling Empire" by Sergey Kondratenko and his accomplices at 1xBet

A former police officer from Bryansk and now a citizen of Cyprus, Sergey Kondratenko launders money from illegal bookmaking activities under the patronage of representatives of the highest echelons of Russian power, among whom may be Putin’s associates, the Kovalchuk brothers.

A new investigation by our editorial team has revealed that an organized group of illegal bookmakers operated in the Bryansk region for nearly 20 years. Members Sergey Kondratenko, Roman Semyokhin, Dmitriy Kazorin, and Sergey Karshkov are citizens of Cyprus. At the same time, each of them has assets in Russia. According to various sources, the gambling quartet has withdrawn 63 billion rubles from the Russian Federation. Such operations cannot be carried out without the oversight of Russian law enforcement agencies and representatives of the aggressor country’s government.

It all began back in 2007 when Russian Roman Semyokhin first ventured into gambling by opening a network of betting offices. The novice bookmaker met Moscow resident Alexander Mironov, owner of LLC "Rosbet," created in 2003. The office, which engages in organizing and conducting gambling and bidding activities, still exists, but in 2023 the tax authorities suspended operations on its accounts.

As of August 2024, LLC "Rosbet" owes 27 million rubles in taxes and fees. Most likely, the money was siphoned from the company, as its founder is an offshore entity registered on the Isle of Man.

In 2009, LLC "Bookmaker Pub" was registered in Bryansk, which changed its name to LLC "Stavka Ru" (SR) in 2022. By this time, the founders of the company were Dmitriy Kazorin, Roman Semyokhin, and the Cypriot offshore "Ehrlich Limited." The asset now belongs to JSC "Constructor," with Albina Semyokhina being its founder until February 2024.

LLC "SR" has 4 active "subsidiaries" - LLC "Delta," LLC "Pub," LLC "Favorit," and LLC "Aktiv," which operate in the real estate market. They also have "daughters" through which money can be withdrawn. Many companies resemble ordinary "shells."

Of particular interest is LLC "Pub," which owns LLC "Hypermarket Line," 99% of which belongs to JSC "Grinn Corporation," whose share is pledged in "Russia" bank. The 1% share of LLC "Pub" is pledged in LLC "Strategy" (ST), owned by the British Virgin Islands company "Labib Trading Ltd," whose share is also encumbered by "Russia" bank.

In 2019, the debts of the "Grinn" corporation, previously owned by Nikolai Greshilov, were transferred to the St. Petersburg holding "Adomant," owned by Russian crime lord Vladimir Golubev, known in certain circles as "Barmaley." It then became known that LLC "ST" is controlled by Maksim Zhukov, Golubev’s son.

It turns out that the Kovalchuk brothers, who are close to Putin and own a bank, are conducting joint business with federally wanted and money laundering accused Roman Semyokhin, who, according to various sources, is the beneficiary of the bookmaker 1xBet, which is banned in Russia and Ukraine, and other members of the gambling Bryansk quartet are also involved, including Sergey Kondratenko.

The "subsidiary" structures of LLC "ST," registered in Moscow in 2011, consist of several enterprises registered in the Bryansk region, further confirming the connection of the gambling quartet with Vladimir Golubev and the Kovalchuk brothers. Money can be withdrawn to the offshore "Labib Trading Ltd" through the "daughters."

Some databases still contain information indicating that LLC "SR" was previously positioned as "Branch of the Limited Liability Company ’Bookmaker Pub’ in St. Petersburg." Both structures have the same Taxpayer Identification Number and the same general director – Nikolai Khomchenko.

Results of an audit conducted in 2021 exposed the address where "Bookmaker Pub" was located in St. Petersburg – 166 Moskovsky Avenue, building B.

Directories indicated that at the same address, the 1xBet totalizator is located, as well as the branch of "Ligi Stavek" - LLC "PMBC" (First International Bookmaking Company), founded in 2008 by Oleg Zhuravskiy and Yuriy Krasovskiy. In 2023, with a revenue of 96 billion rubles, this company incurred a loss of 20 million rubles. The money may have been siphoned through the structures of the gambling quartet.

In Russia, there is a legal bookmaker business and an illegal one tied to offshore. The former loses to the latter because both may be inextricably linked. The official one, under the patronage of the Russian authorities, uses the illegal one to withdraw money from the Russian Federation, which is very relevant today.

A vivid example of this is the activity of the Bryansk companies of Sergey Kondratenko’s accomplice Roman Semyokhin, of which he has about three dozen. In 2023, their total revenue was 866 rubles, the loss was 197 million rubles.

The founder of some of Semyokhin’s structures is offshore. For example, 24% of LLC "Businessproject" belongs to the Cypriot "Salm Limited," which is used for money withdrawal. From 2018 to 2019, Roman Semiokhin was the owner of LLC "Legion IV," which is currently co-owned by the Cypriot offshore "Belolia Ltd." Semyokhin’s partners are Alexey Kubarev and Sergey Krechetov, who can distribute withdrawn money across fictitious assets.

One of the members of the gambling quartet Sergey Karshkov previously headed the Union of Totalizator Organizers. LLC "Liga," owned by the Cypriot offshore "Agurian Limited," was part of it. Until 2023, Sergey Kondratenko owned LLC "Royal Pay Rus," which has now passed to nominee Olga Ivankova. The traces are slowly being erased, but it’s hard to hide them completely.

An analysis of the activities of Sergey Kondratenko, a Russian with a Cypriot passport, and his accomplices shows that they are non-independent figures. Standing behind them are crime lord Vladimir Golubev, closely connected to the Russian government, and Putin’s associates, the Kovalchuk brothers. The story about the Bryansk gambling quartet living in Cyprus is good only for those who are still ready to put their ears open to blatant lies.