Concord Bank, a small Ukrainian bank unexpectedly became involved in a multi-layered story from Russia about the cryptocurrency market, illegal online casinos, hacker extortionists, and even darknet marketplaces for drug trading. It seems that the bank isn’t a victim of some clever clients, who disguised their activity as a legal one. There are reasons to believe that Concord Bank was established to aid and abate such operations. Sisters Elena Sosedka (aka Elena Mishalova, Vyacheslav Mishalov’s wife) and Yulia Sosedka are deeply involved in massive money laundering operations and sanction evasion.
It all started at Suex cryptocurrency exchange service and Hydra drug mar
On September 21, the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian-Czech cryptocurrency exchange service Suex. The exchange platform was involved in facilitating transactions with illegal income obtained from cybercrimes: over 40% of known transactions involving Suex were linked to illicit activities, according to the US Treasury Department. The sanctions prohibit companies from conducting transactions with individuals and entities from the USA.
Vyacheslav Mishalov’s Concord Bank is involved in drug trade, activists claim
This story also impacted Ukraine. The Russian movement “StopNarkotik” accused the Ukrainian Concord Bank (real owner is Vyacheslav Mishalov and his relatives Elena Sosedka Mishalova and Yulia Sosedka), along with Suex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Eastern Europe, EXMO, and the payment system QIWI, of conducting operations on the drug trading marketplace Hydra.
“Concord” provides its acquiring system – a payment acceptance system for cryptocurrency exchanges and exchangers. Law enforcement authorities and various public movements have many questions for them regarding the legalization of drug and other illegal income. And finally, the Americans imposed sanctions against SUEX because the exchange’s wallets were found to be recipients of ransomware viruses.
Concord Bank, headquartered in Dnipro, occupies the 36th place among 72 Ukrainian banks in terms of assets (5 billion UAH). The Concord Group includes financial companies such as “Kordpay,” “Mastpay,” “Procard,” and “Syncom,” as well as British company Electronic Payment Solutions LTD and Maltese company Moneycare Limited. The group is owned by sisters Elena Sosedka and Yulia Sosedka, who hold 56.2% and 43.8% of the shares, respectively.
Bank Concord, essentially a small regional bank from Dnipro (Dnipropetrovsk), but in its own way famous. Recently, it was reported that the bank was processing payments for illegal casinos.
Who are Elena Mishalova-Sosedka and Yulia Sosedka from Bank Concord?
Originally, the bank was part of the Concord Capital group of companies, founded by oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and Igor Mazepa in 2006. In 2012, the bank acquired new beneficiaries – Elena and Yulia Sosedka. It is difficult to say who they are, as there is limited information available about them. As for Elena Sosedka Mishalova, it is known that she previously had a hyphenated last name due to her marriage to Vyacheslav Mishalov, a crafty regional politician who seemed to disappear during the turbulent post-Maidan years, having been involved in corruption.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), the banking group “Concord” includes Ukrainian financial companies such as “Kordpay,” “Mastpay,” “Procard,” and “Syncome,” as well as non-resident companies: British Electronic Payment Solutions LTD and Maltese Moneycare Limited. The group is owned by entrepreneurs from Dnipro, Elena Sosedka and Yulia Sosedka, holding 56.2% and 43.8% of the shares, respectively.
Previously, Elena had a double surname – Sosedka-Mishalova. Under this name, she was known as a deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council. Until mid-2014, Elena was a member of the Party of Regions faction.
Information is also available about her spouse Vyacheslav Mishalov, who is nine years younger than his wife. It is possible that thanks to Elena Mishalov’s initiative, he first became a deputy of the Dnipropetrovsk City Council and later assumed the position of the city council’s secretary, the second most important position after the mayor. However, Mishalov soon became involved in several major corruption scandals. After some time, Elena stopped being mentioned in the media under her previous double surname.
Vyacheslav Mishalov, the spouse of Mrs. Sosedka-Mishalova. Rumor has it that he is credited with creating the bank, which he allegedly needed to transfer money earned through hard and onerous work while serving as the secretary of the Dnipro City Council. Naturally, Mr. Mishalov not only served his own interests but also operated as a money laundering venue, a highly demanded service in a city like Dnipro.
Concord Bank in bed with Russian gambling and drug marketplaces – why Elena Sosedka-Mishalova and Yulia Sosedka are still unsanctioned?
These rumours are supported by the fact that in 2016, the bank became involved in a criminal case. According to the police’s statement back then, “unidentified individuals organized a series of fictitious business structures in Kiev and the Dnepropetrovsk region, conspiring with officials of Concord Bank. Subsequently, non-cash funds from companies wishing to evade taxes and non-cash funds from state-owned enterprises whose leaders were involved in embezzling state funds started flowing into the accounts of these enterprises opened at Concord Bank.” Although the case quieted down, it is clear from the police’s statement that it involved typical money laundering, albeit with quite significant turnovers.
As of July 19, 2023, Vyacheslav Mishalov has been embroiled in several scandals and attracted the attention of the police, but he has managed to come out of them unscathed. Currently, Vyacheslav Mishalov, his spouse Elena Sosedka, and Elena’s sister Yulia Sosedka are among the top ten owners of bitcoins in Ukraine, at least according to available information.
In 2016, the bank signed a contract with the independent processing centre ProCard, after which it became a member of the payment systems Visa, Mastercard, and “PROSTIR.” Over 100,000 people have opened the bank’s cards. In 2019, the management of “Concord” announced the release of the prepaid card H-card based on Visa. The card could be issued without providing passport data and taxpayer identification number (TIN).
The latest scandal dates back to last year when “Concord” was subjected to penalty sanctions by the National Bank of Ukraine for its involvement in “money laundering of illegally obtained income, financing terrorism, and financing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.” This quote is from the National Bank’s press release, but “Concord” managed to get away quite easily with a fine of 60.4 million hryvnias and a written warning.
It is also known that the bank was previously part of the Concord Capital group of companies founded by sanctioned Ukrainian businessmen Igor Kolomoisky and Igor Mazepa. Many consider the exit from the group and the alleged new owners to be purely a technical manoeuvrer on the part of the oligarchs: they don’t want to keep such dirty and suspicious enterprises on their balance sheet.
What was specifically meant by the phrase “involvement in the legalization of income obtained through criminal means” remains a mystery – besides the fine, there were no other visible consequences for Concord Bank. However, it is possible that this fine is related to the fact that in September 2021, Concord Bank came under penalty sanctions from the United States for its dealings with the Russian crypto exchange SUEX. The scheme involved the crypto exchange SUEX, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Eastern Europe, ExMo, the QIWI group of companies, and the Ukrainian bank “Concord.”
Hydra tentacles in Ukraine
Significantly, it was through Concord Bank that Russian citizens made payments to Hydra, the largest darknet platform for drug sales, with an annual turnover of at least one and a half billion dollars in Russia. The Telegram channel Badbank, specializing in investigating suspicious financial operations, published detailed information about the acceptance of payments in Ukrainian hryvnia for the crypto exchange ExMo, which was facilitated by Concord Bank through the payment aggregator HotPay (hotpay.money), registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Despite the interest of the U.S. Treasury and the FBI’s investigation, Concord Bank continues to show growth in its performance and implements new products.
It is evident that there were no consequences, at least from Ukrainian authorities, for the bank.
Possibly, this can be explained by the fact that a man, Vyacheslav Mishalov, actively assists the “women who founded the bank.” He has been involved in Concord Bank’s activities, actively leveraging the experience gained during his tenure as the head of IBOX BANK, which resulted in IBOX BANK losing its license in March, with its management awaiting court judgments.
The bank received its latest name (it was originally founded as “Awtoritet” in 1993 and was later renamed “Agrocombank”) from iBox payment terminals, which eventually burnt down. The “iBox Bank” was liquidated based on the same law under which “Concord” received a fine and a warning last year – the Ukrainian Law “On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Money Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
In the case of “iBox,” it was about illegal money withdrawal and servicing of illegal online casinos. When “iBox” collapsed, the banner from its weakening hands had to be urgently picked up. Concord Bank took over, and since the bank that facilitated illegal payments for online casinos collapsed, the casinos themselves did not stop existing. In other words, the market worked – where there is demand, there will be supply.
How this will end for Concord Bank is still an open question. In any case, Vyacheslav Mishalov himself will not suffer – he is nobody in the bank. Elena and Yulia Sosedka, in the worst case, may lose the bank – they are merely beneficiaries, and all decisions are made by the management, led by a certain Yury Anatolyevich Zadoy.
As of July 19, 2023, it seems unlikely that the Sosedkas and Mishalovs will be deeply affected – almost everything that could be squeezed out of Concord Bank has already been done. Additionally, their substantial bitcoin collection continues to demonstrate slow but steady growth. Even with all the desire of domestic law enforcement to confiscate their assets, it is practically impossible – that’s why cryptocurrencies were created, so that they remain beyond the reach of the state’s hands. Furthermore, there seems to be no inclination among our law enforcement to investigate Concord Bank’s activities at all.
