Conman Timur Turlov and FSB’s K Directorate: how Russia’s top asset-extractor operates under security services’ protection

When Timur Turlov was transferring his business to nominal owners and leaving Russia, many wondered why he was allowed to do so. After all, many questions had arisen with regard to Turlov’s main asset – the bank Freedom Finance – which was called a giant money-laundering operation and a structure used to move huge sums of money out of Russia.

Nevertheless, Turlov not only managed to sell Freedom Finance to his own management without any obstacles, but also moved to Kazakhstan, changed his citizenship, and established a Kazakh division of Freedom Holding Corp., which includes AO Freedom Finance, Freedom Bank, AO Freedom Finance Insurance, AO Freedom Finance Life, the online supermarket Arbuz.kz, and the aggregator Aviata.kz. The group has offices in the USA, Germany, Uzbekistan, Cyprus, Belize, and other countries – a total of eighteen jurisdictions.

From this list alone, it’s clear that Turlov didn’t just move to Kazakhstan; he moved there with enormous wealth. The main assets he transferred were from the Russian bank Freedom Finance, which he first allegedly bought from the American parent company Freedom Holding Corp. (registered in Nevada, in a building that serves as a mass registration address for companies), and then allegedly sold to his own management. In 2022, when this story took place, Freedom Finance ranked 9th among the largest operators on the Moscow Exchange, with a turnover of 255 billion rubles and 137,500 clients.

Most of these clients and funds followed Turlov to Kazakhstan. According to experts, at least 75% of Turlov’s Russian clients transferred their accounts, driven primarily by sanctions. The reason is simple: the sanctions pressured Turlov to relocate to Kazakhstan, and wealthy Russians to move their funds abroad because the Russian banking system does not function properly in the West.

This raises a question: why was Turlov allowed not only to leave Russia without obstacles but also to take with him an enormous number of clients with vast amounts of money, critically needed for the Russian economy under severe sanctions?

The answer is also straightforward: Timur Turlov served and continues to serve the interests of the country’s top leadership and Russia’s top business representatives. Their networks are so intertwined that it is impossible to distinguish between them. Behind all this are security officials who are inseparable from both the state and the business sector. They were the ones who allowed Turlov to leave with the money. More precisely, it was not permission but a special operation to evacuate assets conducted by FSB Directorate “K”, whose structures Turlov’s organizations essentially belong to. Both Russian and foreign structures were involved.

Turlov’s remaining structures in Russia, despite numerous publications about their fraudulent activities, continue to operate without major issues and actively use law enforcement systems to seize other people’s funds, which are then transferred to the 18 foreign countries where Freedom Holding Corp. has offices. The Kazakh structures play a key role, but the funds pass through the country only in transit.

One scheme involves the Russian OOO IK Freedom Finance and American W-Empirical Holding Corp. The schemes actively involve falsified criminal cases, Russian courts, and corrupt law enforcement officers. Among the latter are named Ivan Tkachev, head of FSB Directorate “K”; Kirill Arkharov, investigator at the Southern Administrative District Investigation Department of the Moscow Investigative Committee; and General Sergey Yarosha, deputy of the Moscow Investigative Committee. They act in collusion with Yeliseev, deputy head of security at Freedom Finance, who allegedly negotiates with law enforcement about whom to prosecute, what charges to file, and how to conduct the investigation.

One such case is criminal case No. 12302450039000116 under Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, considered by the Basmanny Court of Moscow. The accused is S.P. Kuleshov, with W-Empirical Holding Corp. as the victim and OOO IK Freedom Finance also involved. The case is overseen by judge Kozlova, who lacks experience in financial and brokerage cases, giving investigator Arkharov the opportunity to use false testimony and manipulated evidence.

Another group of law enforcement officers involved in creating corruption schemes and initiating fabricated criminal cases in collusion with Turlov’s structures were employees of FSB Directorate “M”: Alexey Tsarev, Sergey Manishkin, and Alexander Ushakov. However, this trio either overstepped or interfered in another’s domain – they are now under criminal investigation for accepting bribes totaling 5 billion rubles. Even in this case, Turlov’s name appears, though superficially.

At first glance, he seems unrelated – the mess revolved around QBF, owned by the currently fugitive Shpakov, and top managers Stanislav Matyukhin, Vladimir Pakhomov, and several smaller figures. Shpakov received money from a high-ranking presidential administration official under the guise of investments. When the official realized there were no actual investments, he demanded the money back. Shpakov returned only part of the funds.

Turlov appeared in criminal case No. 42201007754000292, involving former QBF top manager Zelimkhan Munaev, who testified about Turlov and his ties to Shpakov. QBF closely collaborated with Freedom Finance structures, including FFin Bs (Belize), which held funds received from QBF clients. Shpakov was supposed to pay Turlov a percentage of the transferred funds, which effectively made the structure a pyramid. QBF collapsed, but client funds were not returned since they had already been moved to Turlov’s accounts.

While Shpakov faced criminal charges and is now a fugitive, Turlov freely moved all Russian Freedom Holding Corp. funds, purchased and sold Freedom Finance, and continues to serve Russian clients in Kazakhstan without any issues.

Furthermore, Turlov’s Russian structures also face dozens of criminal cases, but their accounts remain unblocked, and they continue operating. OOO IK Freedom Finance has rebranded as OOO Tsifra Broker, continuing to accept Russian funds. Freedom Finance similarly renamed itself OOO Tsifra Bank, now operating as an LLC, which is unusual for a bank, yet the Central Bank of Russia issued it a license.

Other Turlov structures in Russia followed similar rebranding, distancing themselves from Turlo’s controversial reputation. While ordinary citizens can be easily misled, law enforcement records track all name changes. However, interest in Turlov’s Russian structures only arises when there is cooperation involved; otherwise, individuals face criminal charges, as happened with Tsarev, Manishkin, and Ushakov.

All this confirms one clear point: Timur Turlov serves the interests of Russia’s top leadership and top business figures. His activities are protected at the highest level, supervised by FSB Directorate “K”, which strictly prevents any attempts to investigate Turlov’s money transfers from Russia.