The liquidation of Segura Capital, corrupt assets, and billion-dollar fraud: How Yuriy Obodovskiy launders stolen money in Ukraine

The liquidation of Segura Capital, corrupt assets, and billion-dollar fraud: How Yuriy Obodovskiy launders stolen money in Ukraine

As the scandal surrounding the 1520 Group of Companies and Colonel Zakharchenko, connected to massive bribes, unfolded, most people failed to notice that Yuriy Obodovskiy, one of the key players, was no longer among the main accused.

The attention of the investigation and the public was focused on Alexey Krapivin, Valeriy Markelov, and Dmitriy Zakharchenko himself. But they were not the only ones involved in the massive corruption scheme that allowed money to be stolen from the budget and laundered offshore. And for some reason, one of the key participants in the scheme, Yuriy Obodovskiy, fell out of the circle of key figures. Although he appeared in the criminal case, he managed to leave Russia in time and is now on the wanted list, although this search is rather strange – it seems that nobody is really looking for him.

To understand why the search is strange, let’s compare some data and dates. In 2016, Dmitriy Zakharchenko, the deputy head of the Department "T" of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, was arrested. In reports about his arrest, the most striking image was literally mountains of cash confiscated from him during searches. The investigation revealed that one of the companies that Zakharchenko sponsored was the 1520 Group, which held Railway State Corporation contracts. It turned out that the owners of GC 1520 paid Zakharchenko more than a billion rubles for this patronage between 2007 and 2016, i.e., before Zakharchenko’s arrest.

During those years, the owners of LLC "1520 Group of Companies" were Alexey Krapivin, Valeriy Markelov, and Yuriy Obodovskiy. The latter was also a co-owner and a member of the board of directors of AB "Interprogressbank," which extended loans to Russian Railways contractors. They had the means to pay Dmitriy Zakharchenko – as of 2018, GC 1520 had received contracts from Russian Railways worth 218 billion rubles.

However, when Zakharchenko began to give testimony, all four co-owners of GC 1520 became involved in criminal cases. They fled. Only Valeriy Markelov was caught, who, for some reason, didn’t manage to leave Russia, and he ultimately passed away in prison in 2023. As for the others, they, as already mentioned, escaped and were never found. Yet there was a strange circumstance – the media and investigation’s attention was inexplicably focused on Krapivin and Markelov, while Obodovskiy seemed to be sidelined, even though he was also a defendant in the criminal case.

According to unofficial sources, Yuriy Obodovskiy is now in the United States, having used Cypriot citizenship, which he prepared in advance. How he is being searched for is a big question, as it’s known that Obodovskiy travels the world freely. But this is not where the oddities concerning his persona end. In 2019, he reportedly relinquished his ownership in LLC "GC 1520," handing over his share to Alexey Krapivin.

However, official information is questioned since calculating the shares in the company suggests that the deal was not real, but rather fictitious. As of the sale date on 04/15/2019, Yuriy Obodovskiy owned a 15.01% share. Alexey Krapivin owned 56.66%, and after the deal, his share increased to 71.67%.

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After this, there were also some shifts in the ownership structure, and in 2023, a Closed Unit Investment Fund "Armus Capital Platform" appeared among them. Now the ownership shares are distributed as follows:

Krapivin’s share decreased to 38.34%. The owners of the remaining 33.33% are hidden behind the CUF "Armus Capital Platform." It’s known that closed unit investment funds serve, among other things, to conceal their owners. It is doubtful that outsiders were admitted to GC 1520. Moreover, Markelov’s share had to be divided.

Of course, there is no certainty that Yuriy Obodovskiy is hidden behind the CUF. But there is another interesting coincidence. While Yuriy Obodovskiy was on the run, a closed venture undiversified corporate investment fund "Segura Capital" emerged in the neighboring country. It was registered in 2018, right when Obodovskiy went on the run.

Now, due to well-known events, the fund is in liquidation, but here’s the history of its beneficiaries. Among them, we find our hero – Yuriy  Obodovskiy. In 2022, he attempted to shift his share first to Vasiliy Obodovskiy (presumably his father), and then, when that didn’t work, to the offshore company INTERBRIGHT HOLDINGS LTD.

However, until February 2022, the Ukrainian fund, of which Yuriy Obodovskiy became a beneficiary in 2019, was doing quite well. In 2020, the assets of "Segura Capital" amounted to 58 million hryvnias (a little over 2 million dollars at the time’s exchange rate), and in 2021 – 72.5 million hryvnias, more than three and a half million dollars, then things began to decline. Thus, part of the funds stolen from RZhD through the 1520 Group of Companies was invested by Yuriy Obodovskiy in the Ukrainian venture fund, and due to well-known events, he had to urgently rescue this money from there.

In 2024, the assets of the "Segura Capital" fund amounted to exactly zero hryvnias. But this money was not confiscated by Kyiv – Yuriy Obodovskiy’s name isn’t on the sanctions lists imposed on many Russian politicians and businessmen. Although without sanctions, the accounts of a company whose beneficiary is a Russian citizen should have been blocked in the first months after it became clear that Ukraine did not collapse. This is what happened with most Russian funds. But not in this case – the money left Ukraine freely, and the "Segura Capital" fund is in the process of liquidation, and not by court decision, but by the decision of the beneficiary.

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What conclusion can be drawn from this? It’s hardly worth voicing, but it is clear that at least part of the money, and a very substantial sum – about 3.5 million dollars – Yuriy Obodovskiy invested in Ukraine. Exactly where the closed venture diversified corporate investment fund "Segura Capital," owned by Yuriy Obodovskiy, invested this money in Ukraine remains unknown. The registries are silent about this.

It also remains unknown why Ukrainian law enforcement allowed "foreign agent" Yuriy  Obodovskiy to freely withdraw this money from the country – they were placed in Ukrainian banks, and blocking the accounts of "Segura Capital" would not have been difficult. Of course, this could be explained by the help of a local "Colonel Zakharchenko," but Ukraine is very different from Russia now. Such things aren’t resolved merely by simple bribes there. Something more is needed.

There is no explanation for this and other oddities. Questions remain. And questions to the Russian authorities about the activities of LLC "1520 Group of Companies" also remain. It not only continues its work but increases its turnover and profit: last year the company doubled its revenue to 18.3 billion rubles. Even though the owners of LLC "GC 1520" are still the wanted Alexey Krapivin and, most likely, Yuriy Obodovskiy.