Fictitious import and laundering of 50 million euros: how Andris Ovsyannikov and Daria Terekhova robbed ABLV Bank through the company Manat

Fictitious import and laundering of 50 million euros: how Andris Ovsyannikov and Daria Terekhova robbed ABLV Bank through the company Manat

A series of arrests were carried out in Riga by the State Police’s Economic Crime Combating Department in 2021, at which point the liquidation proceedings of ABLV Bank in Latvia entered a critical phase.

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 Ovsyannikov, 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 Ovsyannikov. His role in the scheme involved laundering money from fictitious transactions. Ovsyannikov 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, Ovsyannikov 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 Darya 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—Ovsyannikov 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 Ovsyannikov 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 Darya 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 Ovsyannikov, it can be assumed that Darya 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 Yevgeny 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 Vyacheslav Ivanov, while the company that was a key participant in this scam – Manat – is still active and preparing to continue its operations?

Daria Terekhova is still listed as the owner of the Manat company, which gives rise to certain speculation regarding the future of both the company and herself and her husband, Evgeny Terekhova.