{"id":45008,"date":"2019-01-24T18:29:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T15:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=45008"},"modified":"2019-01-26T16:38:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-26T14:38:58","slug":"the-insider-russian-millionaire-adoniev-investigated-by-fbi-for-trafficking-of-1-ton-of-cocaine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/the-insider-russian-millionaire-adoniev-investigated-by-fbi-for-trafficking-of-1-ton-of-cocaine.html","title":{"rendered":"The Insider: Russian Millionaire Adoniev Investigated by FBI for Trafficking of 1 Ton of Cocaine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Kremlin\noligarch and co-owner of the Yota company, Sergei Adoniev, whose Bulgarian\npassport was recently rescinded, has been investigated by the FBI for cocaine\ntrafficking through the port of St. Petersburg. The Russian edition The Insider<\/em>,\none of Bivol\u2019s partners in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project\n(OCCRP), reported on Thursday, January 24.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bivol conducted an\ninvestigation<\/a> into the Bulgarian passport of this entrepreneur after the Bulgarian\nnon-governmental Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) alerted the Prosecutor’s Office\nwithout mentioning Adoniev\u2019s name. Just days ago, the Bulgarian section of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty reported that\nAdoniev’s citizenship had been revoked at the last minute, following a notice\nthat he had a conviction in the United States, something that the Bulgarian\nauthorities have missed completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Insider<\/em> adds to the news\nby reporting that Adoniev has been investigated not only for economic crimes\nbut also for the trafficking of one metric ton of cocaine before turning into a\nbillionaire with the support of circles around Russian President Vladimir\nPutin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Insider<\/em>: “The great\ndodger. What Connects Sergei Adoniev with cocaine trafficking and Putin (January\n24, 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was revealed\nyesterday that the Bulgarian citizenship of billionaire Sergei Adoniev has been\nrevoked after the authorities in the country learned of the Russian oligarch’s\nconviction (convicts cannot acquire Bulgarian citizenship under Bulgarian law).\nThe co-owner of Yota, Sergei Adoniev, known to the general public as a sponsor\nof Novaya Gazeta and of the election campaign of Ksenia Sobchak<\/a>, had\nbeen arrested in the United States in 1998 after organizing a swindle scheme\nfor the delivery of Cuban sugar to Kazakhstan,” The Insider<\/em> writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From bananas to\ncocaine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The publication also explains that The Insider<\/em> had received documentary evidence of the “much\nmore serious accusation” against Adoniev – of “involvement in cocaine\ntrafficking from South America to Europe through the port of St.\nPetersburg.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Russian site, Adoniev managed to avoid conviction\non these charges solely because of pressure from the highest political level at\nthe Kremlin \u2013 \u201cSergei Adoniev has been released early and deported to his\nhomeland, where, with the support of Putin, he started building his\ntelecommunication business, investing hundreds of millions of dollars of\nunknown origin in the project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The said crime had involved one metric ton of cocaine seized\non the Finnish-Russian border, causing wars between organized crime groups in the\nPetersburg region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Sergei Adoniev (left) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1990s, Adoniev left for the United States,\nwhere he was arrested by FBI agents for financial fraud. The Los Angeles\nTimes<\/a><\/em> daily wrote in its March 29, 2000 issue the following: \u201cPopov\nand his business partners bribed a top Kazakhstan official to help secure a\ncontract to provide 25,000 tons of Cuban sugar to the former Soviet republic.\nBut after receiving most of the $6.7 million due on the contract, the men never\nsent the sugar, the indictment alleged<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the story \u201cPopov\u2019s partners, Serguei Adoniev\nand Vitaly Rashkovan, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and\nreceived prison sentences. Adoniev was subjected to \u201cvoluntary deportation\u201d to\nRussia<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popov fled to Russia, where he was allegedly shot and killed\nshortly after. Rashkovan and Adoniev received effective sentences from a Los\nAngeles court. Adoniev then agreed to \u201cvoluntary deportation\u201d to Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The FBI\ndocuments testify that Sergei Popov and Sergei Adoniev are suspected in the\ntrafficking of 1.1 ton of cocaine seized at the Russian-Finnish border in 1993<\/em>,”\nNezavisimaya Gazeta<\/em> writes, citing\nthe same Los Angeles Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It recalls that in 2006, after returning from the USA, Sergei\nAdoniev set up his Telconet Capital Fund, which became the main shareholder in\nthe telecom company Scartel (under the Yota brand). Yota then managed to obtain\na license for a GSM service in a odd way without the necessary transmitters\n(the company used the antennae of MegaPhone, owned by billionaire, metallurgy\nmogul and owner of Kommersant<\/em> newspaper\nand until recently of football club \u201cArsenal\u201d, Alisher Usmanov), after which Adoniev\ninvested in Scartel a total of USD 600 million in the course of just four years\n(2007-2011)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It remains a\nmystery how and from where the former banana trader found funds for such\ninvestments, (if he, of course, traded only bananas)”, The Insider<\/em> writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the publication further points out that it is a known\nfact that since 2006 his personal patron is Sergey Chemezov<\/a>, who\nhas been running the Russian state corporation “Rostechnologies” or\n“Rostec” for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Chemezov is a\nformer colleague of Putin from the KGB residentura in Dresden (GDR), and in\n2008 (when according to the ACF and Bivol, Adoniev became a Bulgarian citizen),\n\u201cRostec\u201d became an investor in 25% shares in Scartel<\/em>,” The Insider<\/em> clarifies, adding that at\nthat time \u201cYota\u2019s rise had not been met with enthusiasm by the other telecoms\ncompanies\u201d. It describes an episode from March 3, 2008 at Yota’s office \u2013 where\nthe top managers and key shareholders in all major Russian telecoms had gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In addition to\nChemezov and Adoniev, they found there Vladimir Putin in person, in whose\npresence they signed an extremely profitable for Adoniev agreement: to set up\nan infrastructure company on the basis of Scartel, in whose network the\nparticipants in the agreement could provide services related to the LTE mobile\nInternet technology<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergey Chemezov and Yota’s founder Sergei Adoniev conclude the deal that made the latter an oligarch. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“In recent years, Adoniev has been in the news not as an entrepreneur, but as a sponsor of such projects where not everyone would risk investing; projects that had no chance of being profitable<\/em>,” the media writes, giving as examples the funding of the election campaign of the TV host and opposition candidate and in the 2018 presidential election, Ksenia Sobchak, and the sponsorship of Novaya Gazeta<\/em>. The Insider<\/em> cites journalists of Novaya Gazeta<\/em> saying that Adoniev is a good investor and does not interfere in editorial policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editor-in-chief of The\nInsider<\/em>, Roman Dobrohotov<\/strong> told Bivol\nthat the Russian reader cares much more about the way Adoniev had accumulated\nhis wealth that he had invested in Yota, Yota Devices and in the first Russian\nsmart phone Yota Phone, rather than what foreign passport he has had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is important is\nthat the financing of Adoniev, who enjoys Putin\u2019s support, is with money of\ndubious origin<\/em>,\u201d the Moscow-based investigative journalist said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dobrohotov, Adoniev\u2019s career as a drug\ntrafficker had continued in one form or another beyond 1993 through the\nactivities of his companies up to the turn of the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petar Mutafchiev and the\nBulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) behind Putin’s oligarch in Bulgaria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bivol recalls that 2008, known as the Year of Russia in\nBulgaria, was marked by significant bilateral activity between the two\ncountries. And Petar Mutafchiev, then-Minister of Transport, Information\nTechnology and Communications from the BSP quota, personally requested\ncitizenship for Sergei Adoniev, who had pledged to invest in Bulgaria\u2019s\ntelecommunication sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its investigation into Adoniev, Bivol pointed out that \u201calthough\nnot quite an oligarch in Russia, citizen Adoniev, with his USD 800 million,\ninevitably ranks among the richest Bulgarians\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis close contacts with representatives of the Russian\nbusiness and State elite included in the US sanctioning lists should raise\nserious concerns in the \u201cRussian Sector\u201d offices of Bulgaria\u2019s National\nSecurity Agency (DANS),\u201d we wrote a year ago, not suspecting that the special\nservices would really revoke Sergei Adoniev\u2019s citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the right move, not only because of the US\nconviction, but because Adoniev never invested anything in Bulgaria after all.\nWe recall that Sergei Adoniev registered the company Sadko under his still-Russian\npassport at the end of 2007. Sadko\u2019s capital is BGN 50,000 and it is supposed\nto be dealing with \u201ctelecommunication activities and services\u201d. Only five\nmonths later, on May 23, 2008, Adoniev became Bulgarian citizen with Decree 56.\nThe proposal came from Petar Mutafchiev. The reason, according to the Minister,\nwas \u201ca distinct intention to make large-scale investments\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, after the speedy acquisition of a European\npassport, Sergei Adoniev’s large-scale intentions never materialized as for the\npast ten years the registered in Plovdiv Sadko has not reported any activity,\nexcept paying health and pension insurance for one person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

One of the many empty annual financial reports of the Bulgarian company Sadko of Sergei Adoniev, (Archive: Bivol) <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

However, the issue with the Bulgarian citizenship of Sergei Adoniev\u2019s\nwife remains open. According to Radio Free Europe\/Radio\nLiberty<\/a><\/em> he can still enjoy one of the main privileges that\nBulgarian ID papers provide – the right of free movement in European Union member\nstates because his wife, Maria Adonieva, also and still has a Bulgarian passport.\nShe has acquired it under art 16 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act for being \u201cher\nhusband\u2019s wife\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kremlin oligarch and co-owner of the Yota company, Sergei Adoniev, whose Bulgarian passport was recently rescinded, has been investigated by the FBI for cocaine trafficking through the port of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20614,"featured_media":44930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","kia_subtitle":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5544,5806],"tags":[5134,8398],"class_list":["post-45008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comments-en","category-leading-en","tag-putin-en","tag-sergei-adoniev"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Insider: Russian Millionaire Adoniev Investigated by FBI for Trafficking of 1 Ton of Cocaine - 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Control on whether the investments are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investigations"","block_context":{"text":"Investigations","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/investigations-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/buda-ciganov.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103336,"url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/update-hal-billion-social-ministry.html","url_meta":{"origin":45008,"position":3},"title":"UPDATE: OVER 0.5 BLN BGN OF EU FUNDS EMBEZZLED THROUGH SOCIAL MINISTRY","author":"\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e","date":"30 March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Financial abuse valued at a couple hundred million euro have been exposed at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The embezzlement is primarily tied to funds from different European Union programs awarded under the law for public procurement. The procedures, however, were conducted in gross violation of the law.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investigations"","block_context":{"text":"Investigations","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/investigations-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/%D0%A1%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0-2023-03-30-%D0%B2-17.40.52.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39395,"url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/busted-bulgarian-gangsters-from-vratsa-are-part-of-international-crime-network.html","url_meta":{"origin":45008,"position":4},"title":"Busted Bulgarian Gangsters from Vratsa Are Part of International Crime Network","author":"\u0415\u043a\u0438\u043f \u043d\u0430 \u0411\u0438\u0432\u043e\u043b\u044a","date":"17 April 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Several protagonists in a series of Bivol investigations into an organized crime group (OCG) in Bulgaria\u2019s northwestern city of Vratsa were arrested on April 17, 2018 in an operation of the gendarmerie and the Main Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime (GDBOP). The brothers Anri and Mancho Kovachevi, Nikola \u201cThe Gypsy\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investigations"","block_context":{"text":"Investigations","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/investigations-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/anri-serbs.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/anri-serbs.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/anri-serbs.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/anri-serbs.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94396,"url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/bulgarian-golden-passport-scandal-in-uruguay-with-a-colonel-from-the-russian-interior-ministry.html","url_meta":{"origin":45008,"position":5},"title":"BULGARIAN GOLDEN PASSPORT. SCANDAL IN URUGUAY WITH A COLONEL FROM THE RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY","author":"\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e","date":"2 March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Since 2008, Former colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Russian Federation, Andrey Valeryevich Kashtanov, has held a passport of the Republic of Bulgaria under the notorious \"Citizenship by Investment\" program. \"Bivol\" further wrote about this high-ranking police chief, who has never invested anything in Bulgaria, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investigations"","block_context":{"text":"Investigations","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/investigations-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Astesiano_BBCEspanol.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Astesiano_BBCEspanol.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Astesiano_BBCEspanol.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Astesiano_BBCEspanol.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Adoniev.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20614"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}