Sanctions evasion and laundering "dirty" money: How a financial criminal Azim Roy finances the Kremlin’s interests
On his personal website, Roy presents himself as a philanthropist, striving to change the world for the better. He highlights his charity work, including building mosques, water supply systems, playgrounds, and funding boarding schools. However, beneath this polished image lies a history of criminal activities. Roy has been previously convicted and has ties to criminal authorities in both Russia and Kyrgyzstan, operating on a global scale.
A native of Kyrgyzstan, he traded with traditional crafts at the end of the ’80s, but by the ’90s, he was involved in the privatization of aluminum plants in Kazakhstan. During that time, the Chernye brothers, business partners with Oleg Deripaska and Iskander Makhmudov, who were suspected of connections with the Ismaylovo organized crime group, also conducted similar activities. It remains unclear how Azim Roy, who dealt in ethnic trinkets, joined such a team. In the fall of 2023, in Kyrgyzstan, the main thief of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchy Kolbayev, was killed during an arrest, and various sources linked Azim Roy to him. Kolbayev was considered the creator of the international crime syndicate “Brothers’ Circle,” which operated in Europe, Africa, and South America.
Before trading in traditional crafts, Azim Roy served time in a Russian colony, which could explain his appeal to Kamchy Kolbayev as a legitimate front for criminal business activities.
In 1996, Azim Roy founded the international corporation Eurasian Resources Group. Currently, it conducts business in 20 countries.
For the development of international relations, Azim Roy went to the USA in 1997, where he invested in the company PetMed Express. Roy estimates his fortune at $100 million, citing real estate as a key investment, which is often a means of laundering illicit funds.
Currently, the businessman lives in three countries - Russia, the USA, and the UAE, which is very convenient for bypassing Western sanctions. Azim Roy’s Russian asset is the unremarkable LLC “CrossPointe Management,” which is involved in leasing and managing its own or rented non-residential real estate. In 2023, with a revenue of 39 million rubles, the company suffered a loss of 2.1 million rubles.
It might seem surprising to discuss millions of dollars with such figures, but one job search site lists LLC “CrossPointe Management” as part of the CrossPointe Group of companies, bringing together 20 international companies. This information is also confirmed on the “Moscow-City” website, which features projects invested by Azim Roy totaling about $15-17 million.
In Texas, CrossPointe Management Group is registered, which engages in real estate management. The company also offers brokerage services in this field through RE/MAX Professionals.
On the supposedly American company’s CrossPointe Management Group website, a phone number belonging to the Russian operator PJSC “VimpelCom” (Beeline) is listed.
There is also a CrossPointe company operating in Oman, whose contact details include a phone number from the Russian operator “Vimpel Communications.”
As Azim Roy claims on his website, he has extended his tentacles around the world, benefiting Russian authorities. He may be linked to them through developer Pavel Te, owner of the Capital Group company and an active builder in “Moscow-City.” Te is a close friend of Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
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Various sources still suspect Pavel Te of underworld connections. The developer was said to be under the protection of Ded Hasan, who was killed in 2013. It turns out Azim Roy was also on good terms with him, as well as with the thief-in-law Yaponchik. Pavel Te, acting as a mediator between the criminal world and the Kremlin, might have introduced Roy to former leaders of the Russian criminal world.
There is another piece of evidence linking Pavel Te to Azim Roy. In March of last year, the developer was put on the wanted list by the State Committee of National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS) on suspicion of financing Kamchy Kolbayev’s “Brothers’ Circle.” However, just two weeks later, the charges against Te were dropped.
In May of that year, Azim Roy was removed from wanted lists. A criminal case against the businessman was initiated in 2023 on suspicion of extortion and financing criminal organizations, probably related to the “Brothers’ Circle.” However, Roy managed to buy his way out. Prior to this, he used his connections in Kyrgyzstan to clear Pavel Te.
Since 2012, LLC “CrossPointe Management” has been headed by Mirzafar Mirisupov, who previously owned LLC “Sat,” operating in the real estate market. Presently, LLC “Sat-Moscow” is managed by Anvar Mametov, who owns 10% of the company, while the remaining shares belong to the scandalous Kazakhstani and Russian businessman Kenes Rakishev, considered a “wallet” for former Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Anvar Mametov previously had the surname Gabbazov and was the brother of the thief-in-law “Rustik Dnepropetrovskiy” (Rustam Gabbazov), who disappeared in 2004 in the Moscow region. He was considered Kamchy Kolbayev’s partner. The SCNS has declared Anvar wanted on suspicion of financing the Asanbek organized crime group and legalizing criminal income.
He may do so through his assets in Russia, where Mametov owns 13 active organizations. In 2023, their revenue amounted to 488 million rubles with a loss of 359 million rubles. Money could also be laundered through Roy’s companies.
As the investigation revealed, the entourage of philanthropist and investor Azim Roy is closely linked to criminal structures and may assist Russian authorities in bypassing sanctions through their networks operating globally. For some reason, Roy’s company LLC “CrossPointe Management” has not yet fallen under sanctions. New evidence of the businessman’s connections with Russian authorities should rectify this omission.
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