Mangushev Svyatoslav Valerievich biography. “Alpha anti-crime” does not abandon its own

Design and interior 06.02.2024

Design and interior

06.28.2017, Wed, 11:02, Moscow time , Text: Igor Korolev

An anti-corruption non-governmental organization claims that the head of the state-owned enterprise RSVO, Igor Zorin, owns luxury real estate in Miami worth $9 million. Zorin was allegedly assisted in purchasing real estate by the creator of the Alfa-Criminal security agency, Svyatoslav Mangushev, with whom RSVO entered into a number of large contracts.

American real estate of the head of the RSVO

Transparency International (TI), an international non-governmental organization specializing in anti-corruption investigations, has published information about foreign assets Igor Zorin, head of the federal state unitary enterprise “Russian Broadcasting and Warning Networks” (FSUE RSVO). TI claims that Zorin has acquired a number of luxury properties in Miami in the United States.

RSVO owns wired radio broadcasting networks in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These networks were built during Soviet times to broadcast the signals of three state radio stations. In recent years, interest in wired radio broadcasting has dropped noticeably. However, in the two capitals, all new buildings must still be connected to the RSVO network, as it is used for emergency notification.

RSVO is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz). Zorin's enterprise in 2015. Several years before that, he served as deputy head of Rossvyaz. And even earlier, he headed another Federal State Unitary Enterprise subordinate to Rossvyaz - the “Main Center for Special Communications” (GCSS, engaged in the transportation of secret items, funds, etc.).

Apartments for $9 million

According to TI, Zorin, through three American companies with similar names - Trump Palace 3802, Trump Palace 5507 and Trump Palace 5109 - owns three apartments in Miami worth $1.56 million, $2.3 million and $2.2 million, respectively. In addition, Zorin is credited with owning another company, Bal Bay One, which owns a house worth $3.3 million.

Igor Zorin from Rossvyaz found real estate in Miami

That is, in total, Zorin is credited with residential real estate in Miami worth $9.3 million. TI also claims that Zorin, through another company - Hallmark 204 - owns office space in Miami. They house the security agency Alpha-Criminal and the real estate bureau Aplha Realty, owned by another Russian - Svyatoslav Mangushevu.

Connection with Anti-Crime

Mangushev is a retired FSB special forces officer, founder of the Russian security agency Alfa-Crime. Since 2010, he moved to Miami and started business there. Among other things, Mantushev became one of the founders of the Russian-American biker club Spetsnaz (Spetsnaz Law enforcement Motorcycle club), located in this city, whose members come from law enforcement agencies in Russia and the United States.

TI claims that Mangushev is Zorin's partner. Allegedly, the companies through which Zorin acquired real estate in Miami were initially registered under Mangushev, and only after they purchased the real estate were transferred to Zorin. Thus, Zorin allegedly tried to hide the fact of purchasing American real estate.

Zorin and Mangushev have a long-standing business relationship. As the head of the GCSS, Zorin signed a letter of recommendation for the Alfa-Criminal security agency headed by Mangushev. From the text of the letter it followed that Alfa-Crime provides services for the GVC.

When Igor Zorin headed the RSVO, this company also began to enter into contracts for the security of premises with Alfa-Crime. The total amount of these contracts was 146 million. TI claims that Igor Zorin, being the director of a state-owned enterprise, does not have the right to own foreign real estate.

Rossvyaz and RSVO had not responded to CNews’ questions on this issue by the time of publication.

Director of the federal state enterprise "Russian Broadcasting and Alert Networks" (RSVO) Igor Zorin, with the help of a former FSB officer, and now head of the board of directors of the security company "Alfa-Anticriminal" Svyatoslav Mangushev, through commercial companies could purchase four apartments in Miami for a total amount of more than $9 million. During Zorin’s leadership, the RSVO transferred 70 government contracts worth more than 380 million rubles to security companies associated with Mangushev. As a director of a state-owned enterprise, Zorin does not have the right to manage foreign companies. He was also required to notify his employer of the conflict of interest, which, to our knowledge, was not done.

“This world is small, but not for us,” says the slogan of the world’s first Russian-American law enforcement motorcycle club, Spetsnaz, located in Miami. Not only the name, but also the emblem of the motorcycle club, which almost completely duplicates the coat of arms of the Federal Security Service of Russia, the successor to the KGB of the USSR, hint at a possible connection between the Miami bikers and the Russian special services.

Spetsnaz Law enforcement Motorcycle club is a unique motorcycle club consisting of retired and active special forces officers, special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, as well as American police officers. The club is small, but is going to actively expand: negotiations are underway to create branches in New York, New Jersey and other US states. In Moscow, a branch of the motorcycle club opened in August 2015, and a month later, news appeared on the organization’s official website that the club had become a partner of the large private security company Alfa-Anticriminal.

Motorcycle club "Spetsnaz" - Miami

Spetsnaz Le Mc was incorporated on May 14, 2015, according to Florida Department of Corporations records. The leadership of the structure includes a graduate of the Kazan Aviation Institute, Herman Bickbau, now a deputy sheriff of Broward County, the president of the Sokolniki Convention and Exhibition Center Alexey Shaburov, an immigration lawyer in Miami Gennady Sedikov, Eduardo Monakhov and Svyatoslav Mangushev.

Apparently, the biker club existed even before official registration. In 2014, Russian biker Alexander Zaldostanov, nicknamed “The Surgeon,” who is now under American sanctions for participating in the operation to annex Crimea, said in an interview with the Vzglyad news agency that bikers from the United States had submitted an application to join the Night Wolves motorcycle club. Negotiations on the part of the American bikers were conducted by Hermann Bickbau. The official website of the Night Wolves contains a letter from Bickbau addressed to the head of the Kazan branch of the motorcycle club, Viktor Mochalov: “Hello, Viktor! No, the desire has not disappeared and will not disappear. This will not intimidate us. The surgeon is absolutely right, there is spirit in Night Wolves. There is something that other teams don't have. There is the spirit of Russia. That's why we are waiting for his decision. Tell him that we won’t let you down here [in the US].”

Structural divisions of the Alfa-Anticriminal group of companies provide services related to personal, economic and information security. These services include protection of interests in the field of corporate and financial law in court, transactions with securities and out-of-court debt collection throughout the Russian Federation. Until recently, the Alfa-Anticriminal holding won multimillion-dollar contracts for the provision of security services from government agencies. State monopolies and authorities are listed as partners on the company’s website: PJSC Gazprom, PJSC NK Rosneft, OJSC Mosgaz, Skolkovo Foundation and the Moscow Government. According to information about inspections of the State Labor Inspectorate in the Amur Region, Alfa Anti-Criminal is protecting the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant, Russia’s largest natural gas processing plant.

Officer and businessman

Mangushev is a retired FSB special forces officer. In 2010, he moved to Miami, where he actively engaged in business and began investing in real estate. In search of a new home on the other side of the ocean, Mangushev chose an elite condominium, decorated with the Trump Palace logo, at 18101 Collins Avenue. Apartment with a total area of 177 sq. m with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a living room, Mangushev bought it at the beginning of 2010 for $1,175,000 through his company Trump Palace 4702.

Over five years, the former FSB officer invested more than $9 million in Florida real estate. Through the company 18950 N Bay LLC, registered in May 2013, Svyatoslav Mangushev owns a land plot for the construction of a residential building on the first line from the ocean with a total area of 1045 square meters. m and cost $1,280,000. In the city of Hollywood, Broward County, through the company 120 Federal LLC, Mangushev bought another property for $2,425,000, and in 2015, the former special forces soldier, through the commercial structure Biscayne LLC, became the owner of a property with a total area of 2824 sq. m, designated in the register of property owners as a “retail outlet”. The transaction amount was $4,700,000.

Mangushev is connected with Florida not only by apartments and land plots, but also by business interests. In 2012, he registered the security company Alpha-Anticriminal LLC at 3800 S Ocean Drive Unit 204. The property at this address, through the commercial structure Hallmark 204 LLL, is owned by a Russian named Igor Zorin, who replaced Mangushev as head of the company in 2013.

In addition, according to records of the State Department of Corporations of the State of Florida, Svyatoslav Mangushev owns two more commercial structures. Alpha Team LLC (has a license to carry firearms) and Sky Synergy LLC, whose founding agent until 2017 was Igor Zorin.

Mangusheva is connected with Zorin by another business in Miami. In August 2010, the former officer registered the real estate agency Alpha Realty LLC at 3800 Ocean Drive Unit 204. The premises at this address belong to the already familiar company Hallmark 204 LLL. The agency’s website lists the address of its office in Moscow, which coincides with the legal address of GPB Alfa-Anticriminal.

Multimillionaire from Rossvyaz

Mangushev's partner Igor Zorin is a former deputy head of the Federal Communications Agency. Previously, he held the position of director of the Main Center for Special Communications, a federal state unitary enterprise performing the functions of a courier service within the structure of Rossvyaz. The organization is engaged in the delivery of secret items, drugs, weapons and cash.

Now Zorin is the director of another federal state enterprise, “Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks” (RSVO), which is responsible for the construction and operation of special warning networks, broadcasting state radio programs and sound engineering services for the most important state events, “including the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow.”

We assume that the owner of the American companies and the head of the Russian enterprise, Igor Zorin, are one and the same person.

According to Miami Dade County real estate records, Igor Zorin owns three apartments in the Trump Palace condominium: through three companies (Trump Palace 3802 LLC, Trump Palace 5507 LLC and Trump Palace 5109 LLC), Zorin owns apartments worth $1,562,500, $2,320,000 and $2,215,000. The last two companies were acquired in February April 2013. According to the Florida State Department of Corporations, in September 2013, another company, Bal Bay One LLC, was registered in the name of Igor Zorin, through which he owns an elite private house at 227 Bal Bay Drive, Bal Harbor with a total area of almost 570 square meters. m and cost $3,300,000. Now the house is for sale on the website of the real estate agency Alpha Realty for $3,900,000.

Officer friendship

State enterprise director Zorin and former FSB officer Mangushev have a lot in common. When he was the head of the Main Special Communications Center, Igor Zorin signed a letter of recommendation addressed to the Mangushev group of companies. The letter can still be found on the website of the Alfa-Anticriminal holding. Zorin's signature on the letter of recommendation is very similar to the signature on the incorporation documents of Trump Palace 3802, LLC.

It is impossible to establish information about contracts between GCSS and Alpha-Anticriminal of that period, due to the optionality of their publication in open sources. However, a letter of recommendation from 2011 signed by Zorin states that the enterprises of the Alfa-Anticriminal State Budgetary Enterprise have been providing services to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "GTSSS" for several years, that is, during the period of the leadership of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise by Zorin.

Having moved to another federal state unitary enterprise, Zorin did not stop collaborating with Mangushev’s security companies. Over the past six years, security companies associated with Mangushev have received more than 70 government contracts worth more than 380 million rubles. If you understand the structure of the government contracts of Alfa-Anticriminal, you can understand that almost 40% of the won government contracts worth 146 million rubles are the provision of various types of services to the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks from the end of 2015 to the present. It was in 2015 that Zorin began leading the Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Mangushev's security companies received government contracts from the Federal State Unitary Enterprise, as a rule, without bidding, with a minimal reduction in the price of the government contract.

Intermediaries

The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit (FinSec) earlier this year revealed that 78% of all real estate transactions in the US are subject to anti-money laundering scrutiny. The remaining 22% of transactions are not subject to such verification, since they are carried out without the involvement of banking institutions, for cash. The US National Association of Realtors has developed special instructions to identify the risks of money laundering when purchasing real estate. Here are the risk indicators it indicates: transactions with large amounts of cash, a discrepancy between the buyer’s type of activity and his expenses, and the purchase of real estate without personal inspection. If suspicious transactions are detected, the realtor must contact the FBI or local law enforcement agencies.

To prevent law enforcement agencies from becoming interested in their transactions, Zorin and Mangushev came up with a complex scheme. Firstly, Mr. Zorin's Miami real estate transactions were made in cash. Secondly, real estate brokers concluded real estate transactions not directly with Zorin, but with commercial firms owned by him. This ensured a minimum level of anonymity in the transaction. Thirdly, the companies in which the real estate was registered were not immediately registered under Zorin’s name - they were opened by Mangushev. After a company account was opened at the bank, it was re-registered in Zorin’s name. Thus, Zorin bypassed the bank's Know Your Client principle, which obliges banks to find out detailed information about each company that opens an account with their bank. Fourthly, lawyer Scott Levin, the founding agent of all of Zorin's Florida companies, acted in Zorin's interests. Zorin himself practically never left his signature anywhere. The only signature of his that accidentally ended up in the real estate registration file was a power of attorney in the name of Scott Levin. In March 2017, Zorin entrusted him with conducting business on behalf of Trump Palace 3802 LLC, which owns a condominium in Trump Palace.

Thus, the head of a Russian state-owned enterprise, with the help of a former FSB officer, could invest more than $9,000,000 in real estate in South Florida. From 2007 to the present, with short breaks, Zorin has been employed in the public sector. His official salary for 2015 was approximately $75,000. To accumulate $9,000,000, he would have to save his entire salary for almost 130 years.

Legal qualifications

Russian laws prohibit Igor Zorin, as director of a Russian state-owned enterprise, from owning and managing other commercial companies, including foreign ones. If the fact of ownership of foreign companies is confirmed, the sanction for violating such a prohibition should be his dismissal from his position. Despite the fact that shares in commercial companies are in the closed part of Russian declarations of public officials and are never published, it can be assumed that the American companies that Zorin owns are also not included in his declarations.

Director of the federal state enterprise "Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks" (RSVO) Igor Zorin with the help of a former officer FSB, and now the head of the board of directors of the security company Alfa-Anticriminal, Svyatoslav Mangushev, through commercial companies could purchase four apartments in Miami for a total amount of more than $9 million. During Zorin’s leadership, the RSVO transferred 70 government contracts worth more than 380 million rubles to security companies associated with Mangushev. As a director of a state-owned enterprise, Zorin does not have the right to manage foreign companies. He was also required to notify his employer of the conflict of interest, which, to our knowledge, was not done.

Miami, motorcycle club "Spetsnaz"

“This world is small, but not for us,” says the slogan of the world’s first Russian-American law enforcement motorcycle club “Spetsnaz”, located in Miami. Not only the name, but also the emblem of the motorcycle club, almost completely duplicating the coat of arms of the Federal Security Service of Russia, its successor KGB USSR, hint at a possible connection between Miami bikers and Russian intelligence services.

Apparently, the biker club existed even before official registration. In 2014, a Russian biker Alexander Zaldostanov nicknamed “The Surgeon,” who is now under American sanctions for participating in the operation to annex Crimea, said in an interview with the Vzglyad news agency that bikers from the United States have submitted an application to join the “Night Wolves” motorcycle club. Negotiations on the part of the American bikers were conducted by Hermann Bickbau. The official website of the Night Wolves contains a letter from Bickbau addressed to the head of the Kazan branch of the motorcycle club, Viktor Mochalov: “Hello, Viktor! No, the desire has not disappeared and will not disappear. This will not intimidate us. The surgeon is absolutely right, there is spirit in Night Wolves. There is something that other teams don't have. There is the spirit of Russia. That's why we are waiting for his decision. Tell him that we won’t let you down here [in the US].”

FSB special forces

If you look closely at the figure of one of the founders of the motorcycle club, it becomes clear how the Alpha Anti-Crime company became a partner of American motorcyclists. One of the founders of the motorcycle club, Svyatoslav Mangushev, heads the board of directors of the Alfa-Anticriminal group of security enterprises in Russia. The word “Alpha” in the name of the organization is no coincidence: the founder of the group of enterprises is the association of veterans of Directorate “A” of the Special Purpose Center of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, and the main staff of “Alfa-Anticriminal” are veterans of the FSB counter-terrorism unit “Directorate “A”, better known as the Alpha group, former officers of the FSB, FSO and the Ministry of Defense. Structural divisions of the Alfa-Anticriminal group of companies provide services related to personal, economic and information security. These services include protection of interests in the field of corporate and financial law in court, transactions with securities and out-of-court debt collection throughout the Russian Federation. Until recently, the Alfa-Anticriminal holding won multimillion-dollar contracts for the provision of security services from government agencies. State monopolies and authorities are listed as partners on the company’s website: PJSC Gazprom, PJSC NK "Rosneft", OJSC "Mosgaz", Skolkovo Foundation and the Moscow Government. According to information about inspections of the State Labor Inspectorate in the Amur Region, Alfa Anti-Criminal is protecting the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant, Russia’s largest natural gas processing plant.

Officer and businessman

Mangushev - retired officer FSB special forces. In 2010, he moved to Miami, where he actively engaged in business and began investing in real estate. In search of a new home on the other side of the ocean, Mangushev chose an elite condominium, decorated with the Trump Palace logo, at 18101 Collins Avenue. Apartment with a total area of 177 sq. m with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a living room, Mangushev bought it at the beginning of 2010 for $1,175,000 through his company Trump Palace 4702.

Multimillionaire from Rossvyaz

Mangushev's partner Igor Zorin is a former deputy head of the Federal Communications Agency. Previously he served as director of the Main Center for Special Communications- a federal state unitary enterprise performing the functions of a courier service within the structure of Rossvyaz. The organization is engaged in the delivery of secret items, drugs, weapons and cash.

Now Zorin is the director of another federal state enterprise “Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks” (RSVO), which is responsible for the construction and operation of special warning networks, broadcasting state radio programs and sound technical services for the most important government events, “including Victory parade on Red Square in Moscow."

We assume that the owner of the American companies and the head of the Russian enterprise, Igor Zorin, are one and the same person.

According to Miami Dade County real estate records, Igor Zorin owns three apartments in the Trump Palace condominium: through three companies (Trump Palace 3802 LLC, Trump Palace 5507 LLC and Trump Palace 5109 LLC), Zorin owns apartments worth $1,562,500, $2,320,000 and $2,215,000. The last two companies were acquired in February April 2013. According to the Florida State Department of Corporations, in September 2013, another company was registered in the name of Igor Zorin, Bal Bay One LLC, through which he owns an elite private house at 227 Bal Bay Drive, Bal Harbor with a total area of almost 570 square meters. m and cost $3,300,000. Now the house is for sale on the website of the real estate agency Alpha Realty for $3,900,000.

Officer friendship

Intermediaries

Financial Crimes Unit The US Treasury Department (FinSec) earlier this year reported that 78% of all real estate transactions in the US are subject to anti-money laundering regulations. The remaining 22% of transactions are not subject to such verification, since they are carried out without the involvement of banking institutions, for cash. The US National Association of Realtors has developed special instructions to identify the risks of money laundering when purchasing real estate. Here are the risk indicators it indicates: transactions with large amounts of cash, a discrepancy between the buyer’s type of activity and his expenses, and the purchase of real estate without personal inspection. If suspicious transactions are detected, the realtor must contact the FBI or local law enforcement agencies.

Legal qualifications

Russian managers of state-owned enterprises must notify their employers that they have a personal interest in transactions. This notice is a form of conflict of interest resolution. According to our information, Mr. Zorin did not notify his employer that he had a personal interest in making transactions on behalf of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RSVO with the security companies of the Alfa-Anticriminal group. The personal interest in the transactions was that Mr. Zorin could be the owner of commercial companies previously owned by Svyatoslov Mangushev and members of his family, and therefore is bound by property and financial obligations with Mr. Mangushev, the ultimate beneficiary (chairman of the board of directors) of the Alpha group of companies -Anti-crime." Transactions may be terminated, and damages may be recovered from the head of the enterprise. If it turns out that Igor Zorin actually owns foreign real estate, then another issue that deserves special attention may be the source of Igor Zorin’s funds in the amount of $9,397,500.

We sent an appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, in which we asked to check Mr. Zorin's possible violation of prohibitions and restrictions, and also to find out whether his conflict of interests with Mr. Mangushev has been resolved.

Dmitry Utukin
Lily Dobrovolskaya

The Prosecutor General's Office made a presentation to the head of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise RSVO Igor Zorin

The head of the state enterprise “Russian Broadcasting and Warning Networks” Igor Zorin was convicted of violating anti-corruption legislation, reports the Russian branch of the international anti-corruption organization Transparency International. The Prosecutor's Office issued a complaint to the official. The department conducted the inspection following a request from Transparency.

“During the inspection, the arguments about individual violations of anti-corruption legislation by I.P. Zorin were confirmed,” the Prosecutor General’s Office responded to Transparency’s appeal.

In June, the organization conducted an investigation and found Igor Zorin’s four apartments in Miami. Their total cost exceeds $9 million. As Transparency reports, the housing was purchased through commercial companies, when by law the director of a state-owned enterprise cannot own or manage commercial organizations.

According to the investigation, Zorin took advantage of his official position and transferred 70 government contracts worth 380 million rubles to the Alfa-Anticriminal group of security companies. “We even found a letter of gratitude to the Alfa-Anticriminal group of companies, signed by Zorin,” says Gleb Gavrish, head of the Transparency PR department.

The board of directors of Alfa Anti-Criminal includes former FSB officer Svyatoslav Mangushev, with the help of whom Zorin allegedly purchased apartments in Miami in 2012. The Prosecutor General's Office checked whether there is a conflict of interest. Details of the inspection are not yet known. Investigators said they would seek Zorin's dismissal.

Due to the specific nature of civilian military service, it is difficult for a retired officer to find a job with a decent salary. It is necessary to take retraining courses, but this is not a panacea. Almost the only place where you can realize yourself without lengthy additional training is security.
Today, a gigantic security business sector has formed in Russia. There are thousands of security agencies, but only 10 percent of the total number of registered private security companies are powerful commercial structures, operating through legitimate methods, conscientiously providing clients with a wide range of services, and actively addressing the serious task of preventing crime and delinquency.
Svyatoslav MANGUSHEV, who is himself a reserve officer, told us about what private security is and how former military personnel work in it.

Svyatoslav Valerievich, why is the word “Alpha” in the name of your group? It’s probably not a coincidence? And how many former military personnel work in your structures?
- Yes, the word “Alpha” appears in our name by no means by chance - the founder of our group is the Association of Veterans of Anti-Terror Units “Alpha”. By the way, I myself served in group “A” of the Russian FSB. As for former military personnel, in our difficult times of crisis, many reserve officers find themselves in a very difficult situation. Many cannot find work, and we simply do not have the moral right to abandon our former colleagues to the mercy of fate. We can absolutely say that 90 percent of our employees are former officers of various federal ministries and departments.
- And how did they realize themselves in private security?
- Quite successfully. The activities of our company were initially aimed at creating and developing a market for security services, studying, using and disseminating positive international experience in this area, creating new jobs for retired military personnel of the Ministry of Defense and other departments who have extensive experience in practical work in government agencies .
At the same time, constantly growing customer demands force the security services market to constantly improve the material and technical equipment and methods of work of employees. Today's security officer is not a watchman, as many people believe, and in addition to batons, we have a lot of modern, expensive equipment...
- What areas of activity do you consider the most promising?
- This is the organization of work to implement measures to counter so-called hostile takeovers, or hostile takeovers of organizations. This is providing assistance to enterprises that have been subjected to aggressive actions, and combating raiding. This is cooperation in preventing violations in the field of intellectual property, turnover and distribution of counterfeit and falsified products.
- Svyatoslav Valerievich, do you hire military personnel who have served in military service, or only reserve officers?
- Of course, we give priority to officers, but we do not ignore conscripts. By providing characteristics from the place of service, any discharged serviceman has the opportunity to get a job in the organization. Being an employee of an elite security company is a great honor and no less responsibility.
- It turns out that your group of companies is a kind of active reserve, and a person, having left the service and gone to work for you, essentially finds himself in an environment of military brotherhood that is close to him. And most importantly, his work, like his service in the past, is aimed at maintaining security in the country...
- Yes, social adaptation of former military personnel is much faster with us than in other private companies. I myself am a former officer and I know how difficult it is to start all over again when you have devoted most of your life to service. Unfortunately, many officers are not prepared for the realities of market relations and, finding themselves face to face with the problem of future life choices, people get lost. Where to go, what to do next? We provide answers to these questions along with job and career prospects. We value every employee. It’s like in the army: if you work without criticism, we’ll reward you. Only, unlike the troops, our incentives are purely material. In conclusion, I would like to say the following. Our structures are staffed by former military personnel and intelligence officers who have not only combat experience, but also operational and analytical skills. This allows, along with the use of the most advanced technologies, to prevent in advance illegal actions that cause damage not only to protected legal entities and individuals, but also to the state as a whole.
In the photo: Security guards in training.

Photo miamiherald.com

The infusion of foreign capital into South Florida real estate is a tale as old as the state itself. But the story of Russian Igor Zorin is full of strange details inherent in the Miami version of the 21st century: there is Russian money, and a biker club named after the Russian special forces, and an apartment complex under the name of Donald Trump. The Miami Herald conducted its investigation.

Igor Zorin is a Russian government official who has invested nearly $8 million in coastal South Florida real estate. Given that Zorin's salary is approximately $75,000 per year, this is not a transparent financial investment.

Zorin is director of the federal state enterprise Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks (RSVO), and runs a state broadcasting company that, among other things, provides sound systems for the annual military parade, when columns of soldiers and tanks rumble through Moscow's Red Square.

Igor Zorin. Photo rossvyaz.ru

Special forces on motorcycles

Zorin also has connections in Florida: his local business partner Svyatoslav Mangushev, a former Russian intelligence officer and now Miami real estate investor, helped found a biker club called Spetsnaz M.C. Spetsnaz is a group of motorcycle enthusiasts named after the Russian special forces.

Spetsnaz Law enforcement Motorcycle club- a unique motorcycle club consisting of retired and active special forces officers, special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, as well as American police officers, writes the portal ryb.ru. The club is small, but is going to actively expand: negotiations are underway to create branches in New York, New Jersey and other US states. In Moscow, a branch of the motorcycle club opened in August 2015, and a month later, news appeared on the organization’s official website that the club had become a partner of the large private security company Alfa-Anticriminal.

Once members of the group Spetsnaz they even asked for official recognition from the largest biker gang in Russia, the Night Wolves. This notorious gang is closely associated with the Russian security services and played a role in the events in Ukraine; one of the Russian cosmonauts took their flag with him into outer space, and the United States imposed sanctions on the “wolves”.

Zorin and Mangushev have connections both in Russia and the USA. In the Russian Federation, security companies associated with Mangushev have received contracts from the institution where Zorin works since 2015 for $2.4 million.

In Miami, Mangushev once transferred a local company that owned apartments worth $1.5 million from his name to Zorin’s name. At the same time, the sale deed was not executed, that is, the transaction amount is unknown.

This apartment is one of three owned by Zorin in Trump Palace, a prestigious high-rise building in Sunny Isles Beach built by a local developer under the company's brand Trump Organization. The total cost of the three apartments is $5.4 million. Zorin still owns two of them in the complex, plus a home in Bal Harbor worth $3.3 million.

Doesn't appear in reports

But in Russia, this property does not appear in any way in public reports, which Zorin is required to submit as a government official. According to Russian laws, this is illegal and should provoke a reaction from Zorin’s superiors, says Ilya Shumanov, deputy director of the Russian office of the international anti-corruption organization Transparency International.

And given the difficult relations between Russia and the United States, owning real estate in America should be considered a black mark for officials of Zorin’s level, Shumanov says. It's like owning a plot in Hell, he says.

Zorin was not the primary home buyer in Trump Palace, that is, his money did not go directly to Trump Organization. Back in the early 2000s, the company signed several lucrative deals to build houses in South Florida under the brand Trump Organization.

Photo by Worldwide Properties

Trump's name attracts Russian buyers. The move helped transform Sunny Isles Beach into an apartment paradise that is sometimes called “Little Moscow.”

Mangushev is a former officer of the Russian security service, the FSB, successor to the KGB. He first appeared in Miami in 2010. In Russia, Mangushev led a group of companies called Alfa-Anticriminal.

They provided security services for the largest state-owned companies and government agencies of the Russian Federation. Until 2014, the Alfa-Anticriminal company was listed as a relative of Mangushev, according to the Russian corporate database.

Alpha Group is an elite anti-terrorist special forces unit, part of the FSB. Mangushev told Russian media that he is a former officer of the Alpha Unit and that many of his companies' employees are veterans of the Russian state security services.

Zorin declined to comment for this material. Mangushev's Miami lawyer, Olesya Belchenko, declined to provide answers to a list of written questions, saying only that her client sold his security firms in Russia in 2013 and has no business relationship with Zorin.

However, public records indicate that there is still a connection between Zorin and Mangushev. In 2011, Zorin wrote a letter of recommendation for Alfa-Anticriminal, which was published on the website of the group of companies.

And although Mangushev's lawyer said he is no longer the owner of Alfa Anti-Criminal and its related companies, the Russian registry still lists him as the majority owner of one of a group of companies that is in the process of being dissolved. In addition, he runs an American company with the same name, Alpha-Anticriminal. On the website of his real estate company Alpha Realty in South Florida it says Alpha-Anticriminal is her partner.

Mangushev and his associated companies own nearly $10 million worth of real estate in South Florida. There are records in judicial databases that he once tried to evict his wife from an apartment in Trump Palace with a rental price of $9,000 per month. The eviction case began a year after Mangushev was arrested on a misdemeanor charge and his wife filed for a protective order against him, which she later withdrew.

"Putin's Biker"

The role of military veterans in American biker culture is becoming increasingly noticeable, but few clubs can boast ties to Russian special forces.

Club Spetsnaz M.C. was founded two years ago by Mangushev and other Russian expatriates, including a prominent Broward County sheriff's deputy. In Russian terminology, the name "spetsnaz" is used to refer to counter-terrorism units, elite assault groups and special forces of the FSB. Veterans of the Russian security services often hold senior positions in business and government, including President Vladimir Putin, a former director of the FSB.

Zorin is not listed as a member of the biker club Spetsnaz, but he has two motorcycles - BMW and Honda. It is unknown whether he served in the special services.

Political views of club members Spetsnaz move towards nationalism.

In an interview with the Russian publication Segodnya in 2010, Mangushev criticized immigration and its potential for the rapid destruction of national and cultural identity. In 2014, the future president of the club Spetsnaz invited the most notorious biker group in Russia, the Night Wolves, to become its official division.

“There is a spirit in Night Wolves,” Bickbau wrote in Russian in 2014. The letter was published on the Night Wolves website. - There is something that other teams don’t have. There is the spirit of Russia. That’s why we are waiting for (your) decision.”

During Russia's invasion of Crimea and demonstrations in Ukraine, the Night Wolves rode out on their horses in support of pro-Russian separatists. Club leader Alexander Zaldostanov, a plastic surgery specialist nicknamed “The Surgeon,” received an award from Putin. He is considered a close ally of the Kremlin. In 2015, Russian cosmonauts flew the Night Wolves flag over the International Space Station.

But the US position is not so friendly: in 2014, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Zaldostanov and the Night Wolves for their role in the conflict in Ukraine. US officials said the Night Wolves kidnapped a Ukrainian border guard, stormed a Ukrainian naval base and smuggled a senior Ukrainian official out of the country.

In addition, the Night Wolves are “closely linked to Russian intelligence services and help them recruit separatists,” the Treasury Department said at the time.

About whether the “wolves” agreed to recognize the group Spetsnaz, unknown.

Club members Spetsnaz, according to their website, do charity work in South Florida and travel all over the East Coast. They met with Russian-American law enforcement officers in New York and opened a branch in Moscow.

The organization's Florida filing states that club members Spetsnaz are "family-oriented motorcycle enthusiasts from the former Soviet Union who served in the military, as well as their associates." Together they just want to promote motorcycle safety in Russia and the USA.

When reporters from Miami tried to call Mangushev, he kept hanging up. Mangushev is suing his business partners Gennady Alekseenko and Inessa Pozdnyakova in civil court over his local real estate company.

Bickbau, who stepped down as club president last year, did not return calls to reporters.

Home away from home

Corruption is the biggest problem for Russia. In March of this year, mass opposition rallies were held in the country on this issue. South Florida appears as a haven for unknown money. Russian organized crime groups are known to operate in this region.

If someone needs to hide dirty money, says Shumanov from Transparency International This person will likely head to South Florida. In his opinion, this is an ideal place for money laundering through luxury real estate. Prices are rising, investments are protected, and there are dozens of ways to hide the beneficial owner of an expensive residential building or villa, says Shumanov.

Because of this influx of money into Miami, prices for local homes have far exceeded the purchasing power of Floridians.

American law enforcement is now taking note of Miami's reputation as a haven for suspicious money. There have been a number of high-profile incidents that have left the local real estate industry feeling threatened. This includes unprecedented federal monitoring of shell companies that buy expensive houses in cash. And a wave of declassified information from sealed offshore files known as the Panama Papers. And now there's a special prosecutor's investigation that could examine possible connections between Russian operatives and President Donald Trump's business empire, which has a significant presence in South Florida.

Zorin did not use bank financing for any real estate purchases. That is, most likely he paid in cash. His income was approximately $75,000 in 2015, and $159,000 in 2016, according to his returns.

The apartment in Trump's building, which he received from Mangushev, was later sold for $1.5 million to a woman apparently related to Mangushev. This is evidenced by data available in Florida registries.

Meanwhile, according to official data from Russia, Alfa-Anticriminal has received dozens of contracts from the body in which Zorin works. In the reports, Zorin forgot to mention his business connections with Mangushev in South Florida.

Photo of LLC Alpha-Anticriminal LLC

This is a conflict of interest that Zorin should have reported to his superiors, Shumanov says.

Thanks to anti-corruption reforms signed by Putin, Russian government officials are required to report any real estate they own abroad. A law banning government officials from owning stakes in foreign companies comes into force in July. For example, like those Florida LLCs through which Zorin bought his houses in Miami, or the used tire company in Miami-Dade, which he also once tried to buy. Officials are already prohibited from having accounts in foreign banks.

Zorin did not answer questions about his Florida assets, which were written in Russian and delivered by a reporter to his Moscow office. His employer, the federal state enterprise Russian Broadcasting and Notification Networks (RSVO), also did not respond to the request.

According to the official website, RSVO broadcasts government radio programs, operates emergency warning networks, provides infrastructure solutions to telecommunications firms and acoustic technology for critical government events. Including the famous parades on the occasion of the Victory Day of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, taking place on Red Square.

In mid-June, when the Miami Herald was preparing this material for publication and journalists were trying to contact members of the biker club Spetsnaz Before publication, the club filed documents to liquidate the organization.