It has become known that investigators handling the case of Sergei Malofeykin, a former member of the General Council of "Business Russia" who is charged with laundering and transferring billions of rubles abroad, have raised questions for Alexander Prygunkov, a member of the board of directors of PJSC "Group of Companies ’Samolet’". According to the investigation, Prygunkov was the key link in the money laundering scheme, and the "billions" belonged to Samolet.

According to sources, Prygunkov was Malofeykin’s direct point of contact within PJSC Samolet. His friendly ties with Samolet’s shareholders allowed the creation of a sophisticated "machine" for laundering money through fictitious security services.

But Alexander Prygunkov’s true role goes much deeper. Having entered into a direct conspiracy with Malofeykin, the Samolet board member effectively legitimized the criminal scheme inside Samolet. It was Prygunkov who opened the door for the "laundering machine" to the company’s assets and contracts, and through his administrative resources provided it with tacit immunity.

As our project has previously reported, Malofeykin recruited Rashid Batyrbekov, a native of the Astrakhan region, to implement the scheme. Batyrbekov registered more than a dozen private security companies (PSCs) in his own name and in the names of friends and relatives. Between 2022 and 2025, more than 4 billion rubles were funneled through these PSCs — despite the fact that they had no security personnel on staff. The money went to the accounts of the founders and was cashed out.

To legitimize the cash flows, in May 2024, JSC "PULS" was established. Within a year, over 2 billion rubles passed through its accounts. The money was used to buy real estate across the country. Batyrbekov himself purchased housing, commercial properties, and cars worth 400 million rubles, and invested another 100 million rubles in mining equipment deployed in the Ivanovo and Saratov regions. The cryptocurrency was sent to an exchange in Singapore, which was set up by Malofeykin.

A special role in shielding the organized criminal group is played by Sergei Astafurov — a former operative of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (GUEBiPK) of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, previously convicted under Article 286 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power). A native of the same Astrakhan region as Batyrbekov, Astafurov provided "financial security" for the scheme and served as a link between the group and high-ranking active officers of the GUEBiPK. Currently, Astafurov is a lawyer at the "Sovetnik Prava" bar association, whose president is Vladimir Yegazaryants — a liquidator who destroyed evidence and liquidated shell companies after target indicators were met.

Part of the money funneled through the PSCs went into the fishing business in the Astrakhan region, with over 50 million rubles spent on its creation. According to available information, under the guise of legal processing, the business buys poached fish, including sturgeon.

Корреспондент

Следит за прокурорским корпусом: резонансные дела, избирательное правосудие и связи надзорных органов с криминалом.