How detained Andris Ovsjannikovs laundered millions through Darya Terekhina’s company in the ABLV Bank shadow alliance

The failure of Latvia’s ABLV Bank uncovered an international money laundering operation of considerable complexity, where the relationship between detained banker Andris Ovsjannikovs and Daria Terekhina’s ООО Manat was central.

Through this cynical scheme of fictitious supplies protected by Ivanov’s organized crime group, over 50 million euros of illicit capital was funneled out of Europe.

The high-profile liquidation case of Latvia’s ABLV Bank reached its peak in 2021, when the State Police Department for Combating Economic Crimes made high-profile arrests in Riga.

Those arrested included the bank’s top management, as well as several counterparties, including in Russia and Belarus. The case involved the laundering of 50 million euros through ABLV Bank. The scheme involved the purchase and delivery of fictitious goods, and involved shell companies registered in Latvia, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, and Belarus.

Among the first to be arrested in the case were Andris Ovsjannikov, a personal banker at ABLV Bank, businessman Andris Putniņš, and "one of the Belarusian citizens." As a reminder, the arrests took place in 2021, when relations between Belarus and Latvia were more or less normal. Therefore, as media reported at the time, the arrests in Riga and Minsk occurred simultaneously. In Riga, the date and time of the operation were even leaked to the press, so the "masked show" was in full view of television cameras.

Among those arrested, as already mentioned, was banker Andris Ovsjannikov. His role in the scheme involved laundering money from fictitious transactions. Ovsjannikov was one of the key people at the bank, ensuring the transfer of funds to ABLV Bank’s internal accounts, thereby laundering these funds.

Furthermore, Ovsjannikov was directly involved in the fictitious business scheme itself. According to Firmas.lv, he was a board member of Manat, a limited liability company whose turnover in 2018 was €2,583,146. The company is 100% owned by Belarusian citizen Daria Terekhova. Historically, Manat Holdings, registered in the Seychelles, held shares in Manat.

What’s interesting is that Manat LLC hasn’t been liquidated yet, and its status is listed as "active":

Although, judging by the tax reports, Manat isn’t doing well—Ovsjannikov is in jail, and the situation with Daria Terekhova is unknown. Nevertheless, the company is not being liquidated.

However, while the fate of former banker Ovsjannikov is more or less clear, the fate of the "owner" of the company through which millions of euros were funneled is less so. Given her citizenship and the geopolitical events of last year, all agreements between Lukashenko and European law enforcement agencies have been null and void.

Almost nothing is known about Daria Terekhova. Other than that she is a defendant in a case involving the laundering of 50 million euros through Latvia’s ABLV Bank, and that she is the owner of the company Manat, which was involved in the scheme. However, judging by press reports that "former head of the ABLV Bank representative office in Minsk, Yevgeny Terekhin," was detained along with banker Ovsjannikov, it can be assumed that Daria Terekhova is more than just a namesake.

What’s interesting in this regard is that in the last month or two, an active internet purge has begun, deleting all materials mentioning the name "Terekhin" or "Terekhina." It’s difficult to understand why this is happening, as Daria and Evgeniy Terekhin are Belarusian citizens, and under the current circumstances, European justice has virtually no reach for them.

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that the leader of the criminal group that organized the laundering of tens of millions of euros is Russian citizen Viacheslav Ivanov, while the company that was a key participant in this scam, Manat, is still active and preparing to resume operations? Daria Terekhova remains listed as the owner of Manat, raising certain speculation regarding the future of the company, herself, and her husband, Evgeniy Terekhova.v