How Boris Usherovich, hiding in the UK, laundered "1520" Group billions and established the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia

Boris Usherovich, the fugitive co‑owner of the "1520" Group, is holed up in the UK — but he’s still running a cynical operation through European offshore networks to funnel sanctioned electronics into Russia.

While his companies help Russia bypass Western sanctions, the criminal billionaire successfully shields his laundered Russian assets behind British asylum and his family’s sham passports.

We, for our part, are publishing materials on Boris Usherovich’s activities to expose the true scale of the financial fraud, sanction evasion, and smuggling schemes that the fugitive oligarch is attempting to conceal behind the facade of his European businesses and British asylum.

2019. Two years before the full-scale conflict in Ukraine. A massive corruption scandal erupted in Russia over the laundering of 200 billion rubles through contracts with the state-owned enterprise Russian Railways.

The online publication InView.org.uk writes about this .

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The suspects are executives of the 1520 group of companies. Five years have passed, and at least one of them is back in business, as his network of semi-offshore companies, scattered throughout Europe, was desperately needed by the Russian regime for smuggling goods. Who is Boris Usherovich, what companies does he use in Europe, and what does Putin’s wallet have to do with it? Read the article below.

Boris Usherovich is one of the leaders of the 1520 group of companies, which for years was a top contractor for Russian Railways. He was implicated in a 200 billion ruble laundering case, which was turned in by another owner of the group, Valery Markelov, now deceased. It was discovered that 1520 had been siphoning off funds to subordinate companies for years and paying huge bribes to the top brass of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the investigation, the former Interior Ministry colonel was found to be in possession of 9 billion rubles in cash in various currencies. Investigators suspected that the bribes may have been paid, including by Usherovich, between 2007 and 2016.

According to Russian media reports, Usherovich fled to Europe, seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Russian law enforcement even placed him on an international wanted list, but he suffered no harm whatsoever. The reason for this is the large number of companies registered in his own names and those of his close associates in Cyprus and Luxembourg.

Most of the companies registered to Boris Usherovich himself were registered during the same period that, according to Russian law enforcement, funds were being siphoned off from Russian Railways. However, they are linked to others founded later, which, as it turns out, may now be assisting the Russian regime in the supply of contraband goods.

Boris Usherovich’s main companies in Cyprus are Talsana Limited, Wendall Services Limited, and Mavorsand Invest Limited. They were registered between 2011 and 2017, and the businessman is listed as their director.

The director of the first two is a woman named Alexandra Vasilyeva. Another director of the Cypriot Talsana Limited was also Elena Adamovich Hadjikonstanti.

She also manages the Cypriot firm Feltburg Direct Limited. This company is one of the founders of the Russian company Altair Real Estate LLC. The latter is currently managed by Boris Usherovich’s son, Kirill Usherovich.

The aforementioned companies, given their registration dates and the names associated with them, were used to launder funds from Russian Railways until 2019, while the 200 billion ruble case was ongoing and Usherovich managed to escape responsibility.

At the same time, Cypriot companies subsequently began to proliferate for a completely different purpose: evading sanctions and supplying equipment to Russia. At least three more firms were created for this purpose, linked to Usherovich through his business partners, Boris and Ilya Plotitsa. The former is the founder of Main Victory Corporation Limited, where, according to LinkedIn data, Irina Bichinashvili (Greek: EIRENE MPITSINASBELI) also worked.

She also manages three other companies, the names of which are extremely important, as it was through them that Usherovich, Plotitsa, and their associates imported contraband equipment. These companies are Tripster Limited, Broxner PLC, and Venisat technology LTD. All are registered at the same address in Cyprus.

The latter employs Yulia Kovalevskaya, a business partner of Russian citizen Mikhail Ganyushin. Until September 2023, he was the founder of seven shipping companies operating in Russia. It’s likely that Ganyushin’s "accomplices" sought him out through his official shipping business in Russia.

According to journalists , contraband goods, particularly electronic equipment, were imported into Russia through Broxner PLC, Venisat technology LTD, and Main Victory Corporation Limited. This information is stored in import-export databases.

For services related to such deliveries, Boris Usherovich received an indulgence from criminal prosecution, and even more: he became a business partner of Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg. The press has long dubbed him "Putin’s wallet." Thus, in late December 2022, Usherovich’s business partner in the 1520 group of companies, Alexey Krapivin, became the head of Rotenberg’s company, Bridges and Roads. Simultaneously, 1520 began actively participating in Rotenberg’s NatsProektStroy holding company and Russia’s Vnesheconombank. The bank is subject to European Union sanctions. In June 2024, the EU Court rejected VEB.RF’s claim to lift the sanctions.

So, immediately after the companies of the wanted Boris Usherovich began to be involved in the supply of contraband goods to Russia, he and his business partners intensified joint projects with the oligarch Rotenberg, who is close to Putin.

Meanwhile, Usherovich’s son, Kirill, who continues to run a business in Russia, owns at least one Cypriot company. Usherovich’s wife, Elena, owns two companies in Cyprus.

According to databases, she also owns Synergie Capital Sàrl, a company registered in Luxembourg, through whose management she has ties to six more Luxembourg companies. However, the registers list Elena Usherovich as a Cypriot.

In the summer of 2022, amid the full-scale conflict in Ukraine, Luxembourg froze Russian assets worth nearly €4.3 billion. These included deposits and securities of over 90 individuals and 1,100 companies. Obviously, since Usherovich’s wife is listed in the registries as a Cypriot citizen, the family’s Luxembourg assets were not affected in any way.

According to media reports , Usherovich has requested political asylum in the UK. He also spends a lot of time in Spain and Cyprus. In particular, the internet has been inundated with commissioned articles about him participating in various conferences and festivals in Spain.

So, on the one hand, Boris Usherovich has joint projects with Russian companies subject to European sanctions, and on the other, he has created dozens of companies in this same Europe that are interconnected and, moreover, involved in equipment supplies to Russia. His unexpected alliance with the oligarch Rotenberg makes it clear that Usherovich hardly has anything to worry about regarding his old cases involving the laundering of billions of dollars from Russian Railways. On the contrary, his Russian company, 1520, is once again receiving government contracts and is doing better than ever. But what about the sanctions? Sanctions work against Russians. They are powerless against the Europeans who manage Usherovich’s companies.