Bloody Merlion: how, with the assistance of Zolotov, the gang of extorting officers was broken up and sanctioned imports were set up

Bloody Merlion: how, with the assistance of Zolotov, the gang of extorting officers was broken up and sanctioned imports were set up

In the 235th Garrison Military Court, a verdict was handed down against former security officers accused of creating a criminal organization and extorting a massive 15 billion ruble bribe from the owners of Merlion.

Given the level and number of security personnel involved in the operation, they were close to succeeding. But at the last moment, Merlion managed to secure the support of the head of the Russian National Guard, Viktor Zolotov. The “punitive machine” then turned against the security officers themselves. Almost everyone connected to this story ended up under scrutiny, except for one FSB officer with the widest connections.

Currently, Merlion, with such powerful “protection,” controls the largest channel for supplying sanctioned equipment to Russia. Not all accused individuals ended up on the bench; some remain at large. The longest sentence—19 years in prison—was given to former investigator of the Main Investigative Department of the Moscow SKR, Sergey Romodanovsky.

The last son of the former head of the GUSB of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and former deputy head of the USK FSB, Konstantin Romodanovsky, died under suspicious circumstances in the fall of 2024. The general’s body was found at the foot of the stairs in his cottage in Serebryany Bor. A cervical spine fracture was recorded. However, the official version states that he died instantly on the stairs and that the injuries occurred after death from the fall.

Rustam Yusupov, a friend of Romodanovsky and also a former investigator of the Moscow SKR, received 18 years in prison. Former SEB FSB officer Alexander Bibishev and former officer of the Counterintelligence Operations Service (SKRO) of the Moscow and Moscow Region UFSB, Pavel Krylov, were sentenced to 16.3 and 16 years in prison, respectively. They are closely linked to a high-ranking UFSB officer in Moscow and the Moscow Region, Alexander Ushakov, the supervisor of all Moscow courts. Ushakov was also arrested on charges of creating a criminal organization and receiving bribes.

Ushakov was sent to a pre-trial detention center with the aim of pursuing even higher-ranking security officers—the head of Department M of the Moscow UFSB, Valery Popov, and the deputy head of the Moscow UFSB, Sergey Natarov. Ushakov was their trusted person. Later, however, investigators decided not to raise the “intensity” of the investigation. Ushakov was first released under a travel ban, and then his prosecution was completely dropped. He continues to work at the Moscow and Moscow Region UFSB.

Another figure in the case was Ushakov’s godfather and friend, former SEB FSB officer and later Department M officer Anton Kaurov. Sergey Zhiryutin, an investigator of the Moscow SKR, received 17 years in prison. Lawyer Vadim Lyalin received 14 years and fainted upon hearing the sentence. Previously, Lyalin had managed to escape custody.

According to the case materials, on September 2, 2022, FSB officers took Lyalin from SIZO-1 (Matrosskaya Tishina) at 10 a.m. About an hour later, he was brought to his home in the suburban cottage settlement “Russkoye Pole.” At 3 p.m., he called an acquaintance to take him to the Smolensk region. They agreed he would be picked up around 7 p.m. near his house. At 7 p.m., Lyalin entered his kitchen, where his child and relatives were, told them he was leaving, and then disappeared (he left through the field over a fence). FSB officers had to file a report about the escape.

Around 8 p.m., Lyalin got into a Ford Transit camper van waiting for him at the prearranged location. He told his friend that they would need to stop at the Gorbushkin Dvor mall to buy a phone, SIM cards, and some technical device. They spent the night at a friend’s residence in Pervomayskoye (near Vnukovo), and the next morning went to Gorbushka, where his friend bought him a Samsung phone. Lyalin then spent about three hours shopping at the mall. They returned to the friend’s place and then drove toward Belarus. Lyalin was traveling in the “living” compartment of the Ford, looking for someone to take him to Warsaw. By nightfall on September 3, the friend dropped him off along the highway near Smolensk, and Lyalin continued to the location where an Artem was supposed to pick him up for further transport to Europe. Artem did not show up, so Lyalin returned to the starting point and at 16:30 was detained by FSB officers near a Lukoil gas station at the 455 km mark of the M-1 Belarus highway. About seven hours later, he was returned to the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center.

According to the investigation, the criminal organization (OPS) was created in 2019 by former SK investigator Kirill Kachur and his father Vitaly, both currently wanted internationally. The Kachurs, together with security officers, developed a plan to seize the business of Merlion’s owners. To this end, a fabricated criminal case was organized against the owners of the major company, and they were taken into custody. One of the accused lawyers was Vadim Lyalin. Vitaly Kachur sent former investigator Kirill Kachur to Lyalin.

Through Lyalin, the Merlion owners were offered, in exchange for release and dropping prosecution, to sell the companies DELTA, Citilink, Tekta Group (the latter was sold) and transfer all proceeds (15 billion rubles) to the Kachurs and their associated security officers. Later, the Merlion owners managed, by giving up part of the business, to gain the support of the head of the Russian National Guard, Viktor Zolotov. The repressive machinery of the security officers then turned against the organizers of the grand extortion. As a result, Vitaly and Kirill Kachur, along with several partner security officers, fled abroad. Those who could not escape ended up in custody.

In Russia, a wide channel for supplying sanctioned electronics continues to operate, organized in 2022 by the Merlion group (owned by the Citilink owners Alexey Abramov, Oleg Karchev, and Vladislav Mangutov) through Moscow LLC “Marsala.” Part of the scheme was shut down in early 2023 after the British Financial Times exposed its connection to computer equipment supplies to Russia via MYKINES CORPORATION, but it was replaced by companies from the UAE, Seychelles, and China.