The Russian trail in Octobank: who is behind Dmitriy Lee’s banking schemes
Having roots in Uzbekistan and currently holding a Russian passport, he expertly reroutes money from Russia through Tashkent to offshore accounts.
Once a model student of the national education system, Dmitriy Lee left his teaching days in Tashkent far behind and immersed himself in shadowy schemes during the rule of former Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
During those distant times, Dmitriy Lee was involved in fraud in the metallurgical and oil sectors. It was during Karimov’s rule that Lee had to leave Tashkent due to these dark deeds and hide in Moscow, where he quickly and easily acquired a Russian passport with the help of high-ranking friends. He has many such friends, having close ties with the scandalous oligarch Alisher Usmanov (after all, they are fellow countrymen), and Dmitriy Lee is also friendly with Sergey Chemezov, the head of the state corporation Rostec. He is also known to associate with Andrey Skoch, a person from the criminal world who managed to climb to the peak of the political Olympus by becoming a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
And it seems that all these relationships became mutually beneficial, because when sanctions fell upon high-ranking Russian officials and oligarchs, Mr. Lee, with his Uzbek registration and the brand-new Octobank (emerging from the shrinking skin of "Ravnaq-bank"), turned out to be that magic bullet with the ability to hide billions in quiet offshore "backwaters".
Usmanov’s Tarnished "Ski Slopes"
Anticipating the situation, let’s note that the Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov pondered well before the turbulent times when Western sanctions descended. And even in 2013, he was actively engaging on the Isle of Man by purchasing an Airbus A340-300 business jet for $350 million. The plane was registered precisely on the Isle of Man, the name of which gave the first letter in the plane’s registration number M-IABU. The remaining letters are easy to decipher: Alisher Usmanov.
Alisher Usmanov
Moreover, the word BOURKHAN was inscribed on the plane’s fuselage: the oligarch did not forget his father, a half-brother.
It was then that Usmanov created a secret network of offshore accounts, used by Dmitriy Peskov, Sergey Chemezov, Andrey Skoch, as well as VTB. This is how they circumvented Western sanctions through Usmanov’s offshore with the help of the Bridgewaters service firm.
This is how the Russian elite invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Silicon Valley startups and real estate. State bank VTB invested $300 million in Twitter and the Chinese retail chain JD.com.
Erzatz-firms helped conceal Usmanov’s ownership of the Airbus A340, which he eventually flew from Munich to Uzbekistan shortly after being included in the EU sanctions lists.
Documents show: the Russian elite continues to move money out of Russia using offshore, despite imposed restrictions. And Uzbekistan is involved brightly here!
And it was the Bridgewaters network that was used in 2013 to obtain a $130 million credit involving Usmanov, relatives of Skoch and Chemezov.
In 2014, Bridgewaters held $1 million, which belonged to Tatiana Navka, Peskov’s spouse.
Sweet couple: Peskov and Navka
It is said that Mr. Usmanov acquired Bridgewaters back in 2011. Since 2019, he has presumably lost control due to investigations by European and American regulators.
A representative of the Isle of Man government told journalists that their sanctions are similar to those of the UK: the government has frozen Russian assets worth 2 million pounds sterling, and deregistered 49 boats and 22 aircraft, including Usmanov’s Airbus.
And since Usmanov’s "ski slopes" turned out to be banned, Tashkent native Dmitriy Lee came in handy.
Underground Millionaire Koreiko Number Two
Dmitriy Lee once amassed a decent fortune through fraud and manipulations in highly profitable industries like oil & gas and energy.
How can we not recall the underground millionaire Alexander Koreiko from "The Little Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov?
Dmitriy Lee
It’s known that gasoline is very expensive in Uzbekistan, and there are constant electricity outages. Why? Because budgetary funds earmarked for the development of new oil & gas fields and modernization of the energy system were cynically embezzled by Mr. Lee in collusion with accomplices. It should be noted that Dmitriy Lee was a partner of Davron Gafurov, with whom the supply channels for petroleum products were monopolized. This led to the collapse of the local oil production industry, as everything was done to expand import scales.
Things were going uphill, and offshore assets were being replenished with petrodollars.
But the former President Islam Karimov was known for his tough character: he promised there would be no oligarchs in the country.
Islam Karimov
And Lee reached a bifurcation point. He had to flee Tashkent.
But immediately after Karimov’s death, Dmitriy Lee reappeared in Tashkent, this time with a Russian passport and as a foreign investor: soon Octobank was also established.
Tashkent became a base. And Octobank is actively used for transferring and laundering money from Russia. Through Octobank, not only sanctioned money flows but also revenue from drug trafficking and illegal casinos.
Media reports indicate that Dmitriy Lee was actively involved in pushing out external payment systems servicing the High-risk traffic of the country from Uzbekistan’s payment services market. And he wasn’t just a participant in the process; he directly managed it. He left only "his" players on the market.
Through Octobank, money flows into offshore accounts, from which they emerge clean, as the company owners to whom Octobank transfers Russian money are hidden by local legislation.
Payments going through Octobank from Russia involved branches of Russian Promsvyazbank, Gazprombank, VTB, MTS-bank, MIN-bank (merged with state Promsvyazbank in 2023), and Russian Standard Bank.
Yet four out of the six Russian banks involved in the money-outflow schemes through Octobank are state-owned. That’s some scale!
Mysterious Death of the Accountant
Fact: From January to March 2025, more than 3 million USDT were transferred through just one chain originating from a public API wallet in Octobank to wallets associated with foreign intermediary companies. After laundering on the Binance Smart Chain, the money went to HuaLong Components accounts in Guangzhou.
Новости по теме: Кремль обеспокоен увеличением интереса к самоуправлению и локальной повестке в крупных городах
But this firm officially sells children’s toys.
Octobank
In reality, it’s a supplier of inertial navigation units for Su-35 aircraft. This scheme was used to procure components for "Orion" drones produced by the "Kronshtadt" company.
Transaction routes were built with enviable accuracy: Tornado Cash, then mixed through OKX, Binance, and Gate.io wallets, after which the money appeared in wallets of fake API users. These documents were created using passports of Uzbekistan residents long recognized as having passed away.
Fake accounts were registered with the Uzbek Ministry of Internal Affairs under the supervision of Shokhrukh Rakhimov, head of the "K" division: he coordinated the legalization of schemes. There was also blatant criminality. Rakhimov was responsible for the physical elimination of an unnecessary witness - an accountant from offshore LANTAC Holdings.
The accountant went missing in Tashkent a few months ago
Dmitriy Lee’s big wallet
It turned out that the regulatory body - the Central Bank of Uzbekistan - was not just an observer but an active participant. Azamat Hakimov, overseeing the financial monitoring service, signed an order clearing suspicions from all transactions up to $1 million if they went through partner gateways. Octobank was included in such a list of gateways.
Azamat Hakimov’s brother - Farrukh Hakimov - "runs" AXIS PRO TRADE. This company supposedly deals with cable product exports but, in practice, purchases electronics in Malaysia. And ships it to Russia via Georgia. The liaison - Colonel Rustam Abdurakhmanov - met with representatives of the "Roselectronics" company (a structure of Rostec Corporation led by General Chemezov) in Moscow.
Sergey Chemezov
He ensured the security of communication channels.
Rusprofile.ru
Indeed, everything is perfectly tuned!
Casino Vavada
It also turned out that Octobank can channel money through casinos, as Dmitriy Lee long ago captured a huge share of the financial flows of the gambling market. And the entire gambling business in Uzbekistan also falls under his vigilant patronage.
Here, first of all, casino Vavada surfaces, which uses POS terminals of Promsvyazbank (PSB) (BIN: 557071), MTS Bank (BIN: 550583), and the Octobank (BIN: 983224) for debiting from bank cards of Russian issuers.
Casino Vavada
Recently, Octobank has been noted for suspiciously active operations with the Russian Promsvyazbank: the topic again revolves around money flowing through casino Vavada.
Octobank actively channels money out of cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
The scheme featured Environex, which is tied to the cryptocurrency exchange UzNext and the PayCrypto service, through which payments and currency cash-outs are executed.
Hitmen for Allamjonov and Lee
It should be noted that recently Uzbekistan has been blocking information resources reporting on the criminal activity of Octobank and Dmitriy Lee.
This may have spurred the attack on Komil Allamjonov, head of the Information Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan, who unexpectedly left his position. Later, an attempt was made on the former official’s life while he was in his car, but he survived miraculously.
Komil Allamjonov
Notably, Allamjonov was criticized for being too lenient with the media and not being seen "tightening the screws." This might have been one of the reasons for his departure.
But Allamjonov knew a lot about Lee’s dubious activities, involved in fraudulent schemes with payment systems associated with Octobank. Sharp publications started appearing in the media: apart from the bank itself, the fraud schemes also involved Kapitalbank, the Humo payment system, Uzcard processing, the Uznex exchange, and terminals of major Russian banks.
Then reports emerged about an assassination attempt on Dmitriy Lee. But Lee also survived.
Why target Dmitriy Lee?
Possibly because he centralised total control over financial flows: the banking sector, cryptocurrency, acquiring, gambling, lotteries, online business.
Additionally, Dmitriy Lee secured the legalization of gambling, lotteries, and bookmaker activities starting January 1 of the following year. He became the sole intermediary through which millions flow and effectively turned the legalization of gambling into a new domain for enrichment.
What could have sparked the order to kill Lee, or is the plan to eliminate him the work of those who didn’t want to accept his dominance of the market?
Mysterious Death of a Top Manager
Besides the accountant from the offshore company who disappeared in Tashkent, journalists have raised many questions regarding the sudden death of 44-year-old top manager Timur Alimov.
Mr. Alimov was one of the key employees of the bank. Alimov came to Octobank from the Russian Kapitalbank, which was owned by Alisher Usmanov and Andrey Skoch, Russian oligarchs with scandalous reputations.
Andrey Skoch
How is Alimov’s death linked to Usmanov and Skoch? At that time, Octobank’s rebranding and a shakeup in the ownership structure had just concluded. Octobank was previously called Ravnaq-bank, and a controlling stake in it was held by one Sarvar Fayziyev.
In 2023, when the controlling stake in the bank fell into the hands of Iskandar Tursunov, who had led Ravnaq-bank for many years. After several transactions, his share amounted to 97.2% of Octobank’s stocks.
However, until 2022, Iskandar Tursunov was one of the beneficiaries of Kapitalbank, which was bought by Alisher Usmanov’s “Telecominvest” company. And this very company has a direct connection to Andrey Skoch.
But in 2022, escaping sanction pressures, Usmanov sold Telecominvest’s stake in Kapitalbank, with Tursunov handling the sale. The share was sold to Usmanov’s management: the deal was a mere formality.
Kapitalbank
This process involved Alimov. And Alimov’s mysterious death raises many questions, especially considering Skoch’s criminal past, who, in the 1990s, was known as Scotch and was considered one of the leaders of the Solntsevskaya organized crime group.
Recall that Kapitalbank was also a subject in an investigation concerning underground casinos.
Financial Kraken
It appears that Uzbekistan has become a true financial kraken, intertwining the interests of Russian and Uzbek companies, resulting in a major laundromat.
With such "talents," can any sanctions be circumvented?
Octobank is virtually absent in the offline environment. But its digital infrastructure facilitates thousands of daily transactions.
Today, dozens of Octobank clients are registered in offshore locations in Cyprus and the UAE, where cash-out platforms operate.
Note, Octobank is not included in the sanction lists of the USA or the EU, although rumors suggest that the U.S. Department of Treasury is preparing a package of restrictions against individuals and organizations.
Dmitriy Lee could be under criminal investigation for "Money Laundering" and be implicated in a case of aiding the supply of sanctioned products under the cover of banking schemes.
Dmitriy Lee
But today, Dmitriy Lee continues to use the controlled Octobank for withdrawing "cabbage" from Russian "moneybags" through China, Turkey, and Dubai.
The European Parliament has already accused Dmitriy Lee of creating an international money laundering scheme. The European Parliament demands an investigation into Dmitriy Lee’s financial manipulations. It is quite possible that Dmitriy Lee faces imminent criminal prosecution and could be included in the USA, EU, and Canada’s sanction lists.
Frankly, the prospects look quite grim!
Олег ЗубрицкийРаспечатать