Dmitri Torner was detained at Schwechat airport on charges of laundering Russian capital, bribing public officials, and financing sanctioned Russian projects in Europe. The arrest was made following a joint request from the US, Moldova, and Ukraine. The Austrian judiciary also has questions for Dmitri Torner related to the case of his former boss, Dmytro Firtash. Simultaneously with Torner’s arrest, his wife, Olga Torner, reported being unable to use any of their bank cards. According to her, all three of their bank accounts have been blocked, and their account services have been temporarily suspended.
Dmitri Torner is a true phenomenon of our time. He has gone from a Moldavian prison to sitting on the sofa with Rudolph Giuliani. Perhaps it is time to remind him of his modest beginnings.
Dmitri Torner: from a furniture thief to high-stakes fixer
Dmitri Torner, once a lesser-known figure in Eastern European kleptocracy, has risen to prominence, now mingling with influential circles in Russia, Ukraine, the US, and Europe. Torner, originally a petty criminal from Moldova, has transformed into a sought-after fixer for oligarchs, especially with sanctions looming.
Torner allegedly acquired his first Ukrainian passport in 2007 using his mother’s maiden name. Over the years, he used various aliases, taking the surnames of his first and second wives before adopting the name Torner in 2019. Born Dmitri Nekrasov, he was convicted in Chișinău, Moldova, for a series of thefts, including stealing mobile phones and furniture from rented apartments, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He escaped to Ukraine, bought counterfeit papers, and rebranded himself as Dmitri Torner, now specializing in large-scale embezzlement and corruption. He even attempted to enter Ukrainian politics but was disqualified when his criminal past was exposed.
Torner’s rise is marked by a string of forged identities and connections with influential figures. After escaping from prison in Moldova in 2004, he bought a Ukrainian passport and began using various aliases, including Dmitri Malchenko, Dmitri Grozny, and finally Dmitri Torner. His connections with Ukrainian officials and the Russian Orthodox Church helped him navigate legal hurdles and continue his operations.
In 2019, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission disqualified Dmitri Torner from the parliamentary race after detectives identified him as a wanted Moldovan criminal with multiple Ukrainian passports under different names. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) revealed that Dmitri Torner, a 39-year-old candidate from the Opposition Platform – For Life party, was actually Moldovan citizen Dmitri Nekrasov. Starting in 2007, Nekrasov reportedly forged identity documents to illegally obtain Ukrainian domestic and international passports. Despite his criminal background, Torner managed to preserve his Ukrainian passport through influence and corruption, thwarting extradition requests from Moldova.
Dmitri Torner’s political ambitions were temporarily halted, but he continued to climb the ranks, becoming a fixer for oligarchs like Dmitry Firtash. His high-profile connections allowed him to move to Vienna, where he orchestrated PR campaigns to erase traces of his past and strengthen ties with regional and global elites.
The return of Dmitri Torner
In October, Ukrainian journalists reported that Dmitri Torner visited the Office of the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, highlighting his ongoing influence. Despite his criminal past and previous calls to exclude him from politics, Torner’s presence in high-level discussions underscored his continued significance.
In January 2020, a photo published by The Washington Post showed Torner meeting in Paris with Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, alongside Ukrainian-American businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. Despite his notorious background, Torner managed to negotiate significant deals, such as securing a lucrative gas contract for Firtash’s company from the Ukrainian government.
