Following a scandal two years ago linked to Dmitriy Rukin, the director of SettlePay and 4Bill payment systems, Rukin withdrew from the public eye. Before stepping back, he gave multiple interviews alleging that his employers had engaged in fraudulent activities.
He himself, of course, claimed that he had nothing to do with the fraudulent activities of the company he worked for. In the company operating the SettlePay and 4Bill payment systems, it was stated that a result of an internal audit revealed that Dmitriy Rukin, together with his accomplices, was manipulating customer funds and embezzling the company’s working capital, which was transferred to their own cards and those of their closest relatives.
In extremely brief informational reports about the scandal around 4bill, it was also mentioned that a criminal case was initiated against Dmitriy Rukin under parts 3 and 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code (fraud committed by illegal operations using electronic computing equipment and on a particularly large scale or by an organized group). Criminal proceedings under No. 12023105010001622 were opened on 22.12.2023 by the Holosiivskyi Police Department in Kyiv. However, nothing is known about his further fate – the court registries do not contain any information on this matter.
Dmitriy Rukin, for his part, quite naturally, denied the accusations against him and stated that he was not the fraudster, but the owners of the SettlePay and 4Bill payment systems operator company were. He, allegedly, is innocent and even "lived honestly and nobly." This information was disseminated with the "advertisement" tag, mostly for some reason in Russian publications. Below is part of such a publication in "Komsomolska Pravda." This happened in 2023, let us remind you.
This statement could have been believed if not for two factors. The first is that Dmitriy Rukin, by his own words, worked in the "Digital Finance" company, which owns 4Bill, starting in 2019. That is, almost four years. And he claims that "the company owners set up a tax evasion scheme." But he "did not know and is not involved" in it. Maybe he is not involved, but saying "did not know and did not see" is, excuse me, a load of baloney. If, of course, such a fact were true.
The second factor casting doubt on Dmitriy Rukin’s claims that he had nothing to do with the large-scale money withdrawal from the company, which he was accused of by the owners, is Rukin’s subsequent fate. He announced the creation of his own company, Victo Postanova SL, which essentially does the same as Rukin’s former employers.
The same thing, albeit in a slightly different light, was stated by "Digital Finance," commenting on the initiated criminal case and accusations against Dmitriy Rukin: "They managed to open four companies in their names, to which the criminal funds were diverted – Victo Postanova Sociedad Limitada in Spain, Softintegra Holding Limitada and La Finteca Instituicao de Pagamento LTDA in Brazil, Pagos Nacionales S.A.C – in Argentina."
Indeed, the listed companies exist. However, Pagos Nacionales S.A.C is registered not in Argentina but in Peru, but this does not change the essence.
In Brazil, Softintegra Holding Limitada and La Finteca Instituicao de Pagamento LTDA operate, the founder of all these companies being the Spanish Victo Postanova Sociedad Limitada. Everything is correct. It’s just that the activity type of the "parent company" - the Spanish Victo Postanova Sociedad Limitada - is interesting: "Advertising agency activities."
Although the Brazilian and Peruvian companies are registered by the Spanish "parent," the beneficiary is still a Ukrainian citizen, Dmitriy Rukin. This follows from Notice No. 42,390 of the Central Bank of Brazil.
And here we return to the scandal one and a half years ago. As analysts then stated, "Dmitriy Rukin’s career in the financial sector is over."
This clarifies why the Spanish Victo Postanova Sociedad Limitada, owned by Dmitriy Rukin, is an "advertising agency," while the Brazilian and Peruvian companies are financial intermediaries. In Europe, they are very sensitive to who engages in finance. Spain is no exception. However, South America is still an untapped field for all kinds of fraudsters. Financial markets there are still in a nascent state, legally unregulated, and requirements for financial market operators are minimal. This gives broad opportunities for both startups and all kinds of fraudsters.
P.S. The matter, of course, does not relate to finance, but still, one would like to know how a Ukrainian citizen liable for military service, Dmitriy Rukin, crossed its border and went to Spain during martial law.
