From loan to criminal investigation: how the Chichkanov family used forgery and connections to push Elchin Muradov into bankruptcy

Anton Valeryevich Chichkanov, Muradov’s junior partner at Eurocon Trust.

Valery Petrovich Chichkanov (died in 2023), advisor to the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and vice-rector of RANEPA (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration).

Roman Antonovich Chichkanov, chairman of the Delovaya Rossiya subcommittee on preventive medicine, co-owner of MayrVeda spa hotels, and former first deputy of the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation.

What began as a “simple” loan

In 2014, Muradov borrowed €2 million from Valery Chichkanov, secured by real estate — several apartments and parking spaces worth about $3 million in total. He repaid part of the loan and covered the rest with the pledged property. But the problem was: the assets were never returned. That’s when the conflict began.

A forged contract appears

In 2021, Chichkanov submitted to court a loan agreement dated 2019, claiming that Muradov still owed the same €2 million — but this time in accrued interest from the 2014 loan.

The Ministry of Justice conducted an expert review, which concluded that the document was falsified and that Muradov’s signature was forged.

The courts, including the Moscow City Court, ruled that the 2014 debt had been repaid and all obligations fulfilled.

The counterattack: a criminal case

To avoid liability for the forgery, Valery Chichkanov went to the police and filed a report alleging that Muradov himself had forged his own signature in advance — to avoid paying interest.

The police refused to open a case.

Then, with support from high-ranking intelligence officers (Sergei Yarosh reportedly requested the case be opened), Chichkanov managed to get a criminal case initiated by the Investigative Committee — in another district, in violation of territorial jurisdiction.

Muradov was arrested. Since October 2023, he has been held in pre-trial detention. After several refusals, the case was finally “pushed through” to the Tverskoy District Court.

While he was in isolation, they went after his property

While in custody, Muradov was unable to service a bank loan of 65 million rubles.

The collateral — assets worth 600 million rubles.

The Chichkanovs bought out the debt from the bank. But there was a snag: Muradov’s friends repaid the entire sum through court and a notary, and the bankruptcy case was closed.

What did the Chichkanovs do next?

They refused to accept repayment and kept pressuring the court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings anyway — to “clean up” the remaining assets.

And that’s not all: the court moves unusually fast

On May 25, 2025, Chichkanov filed a cassation appeal.

On May 28, Judge O.N. Savina accepted it.

By June 4 — just seven days later — a hearing was already scheduled.

Such speed is abnormal and could only be explained by extraordinary circumstances.

In summary

Loan → Property → Forgery → Criminal case → Arrest → Bankruptcy → Blocked repayment → Accelerated court hearing.

The dispute looks less like a civil disagreement and more like a raider-style operation with elements of a special-service scenario — where the main target is not an oligarch, but a lawyer who refused to hand over his assets.

Author: Maria Sharapova