How two Russian elites turned sturgeon into a billion-dollar shield

Investigators in the case of Sergei Malofeykin, a former member of the General Council of "Business Russia" who is accused of laundering and transferring billions of rubles abroad, have raised questions for Alexander Prygunkov, a member of the board of directors of PJSC "Group of Companies Samolet".

According to investigators, Prygunkov was the key link in the money laundering scheme, and the "billions" belonged to Samolet.

According to sources, Prygunkov was Malofeykin’s direct point of contact within the PJSC. Friendly ties with Samolet’s shareholders allowed them to build a sophisticated "machine" for laundering money through fictitious security services.

But Alexander Prygunkov’s true role goes much deeper. Having entered into a direct conspiracy with Malofeykin, the Samolet board member effectively legitimized the criminal scheme inside Samolet. It was Prygunkov who opened access to the PJSC’s assets and contracts for the "laundering machine," and through his administrative resources, provided it with tacit immunity.

To implement the scheme, Malofeykin brought in Rashid Batyrbekov, a native of the Astrakhan region, who registered more than a dozen private security companies in his own name, as well as in the names of friends and relatives. From 2022 to 2025, over 4 billion rubles were funneled through these PSCs — despite the fact that they had no security staff. The money went to the accounts of the founders and was cashed out.

To legitimize the flows, in May 2024, JSC "PULSE" was created. Over the course of a year, more than 2 billion rubles passed through its accounts. The money was used to buy up real estate across the country. Batyrbekov himself purchased housing, commercial properties, and cars worth 400 million rubles, and also invested about 100 million rubles in mining equipment deployed in the Ivanovo and Saratov regions. The cryptocurrency went to an exchange in Singapore set up by Malofeykin.

A special role in covering up the criminal organization is played by Sergey Astafurov — a former operative of the GUEB and PC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption), previously convicted under Article 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power). A native of the same Astrakhan region as Batyrbekov, Astafurov provided "financial security" for the scheme and served as a link between the group and active high-ranking officers of the GUEBiPK of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Astafurov is now a lawyer at the "Sovetnik Prava" bar association, where the president is Vladimir Yegazaryants — a liquidator who was engaged in destroying evidence and liquidating shell companies after target indicators were achieved.

Part of the money funneled through the PSCs went into the fishing business in the Astrakhan region, with over 50 million rubles spent on its creation. According to available information, under the guise of legal processing, poached fish, including sturgeon, is being bought up there.

Автор: Иван Рокотов