Foreword: Due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, accessing Russian websites from outside of Russia is currently problematic.

This article cites the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Izvestia. Although links to both sources are provided, they are unlikely to work when accessed from outside of Russia. /end foreword

 

Antares Trade Ponzi scammer Alexey Zhirovkin (aka Aleksey and Alexander Zhirovkin), has been arrested in Turkey.

Although the Central Bank of Russia issued an Antares Trade fraud warning in July 2021, unfortunately Zhirovkin’s arrest has nothing to do with Ponzi scamming.

In late May the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), announced “a Russian citizen” was arrested on an Interpol warrant in Turkey. Turkey then extradited the suspect to Russia (alternative Rambler archive article).

In Moscow, police officers detained a Russian citizen deported from Turkey who was wanted by Interpol.

The suspect was wanted internationally by the South-West Administrative District Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow. He is accused of 53 counts of fraud committed by an organized group using his official position.

From March to August 2011, the man worked for a company that sold audio and video equipment in specialized stores in Moscow.

According to investigators, he used his official position and free access to the personal accounts of other employees of the organization on the corporate Internet resource.

The perpetrator made loyalty cards and illegally credited bonus rubles to them.

Subsequently, other members of the organized group used the cards to make purchases of expensive goods, causing material damage totaling almost 500 thousand rubles.

A criminal case was opened on this fact in November 2011.

The suspect left the territory of the Russian Federation and was put on the wanted list through Interpol channels.

During the operational-search activities organized by the National Central Bureau of Interpol of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, information was received that the wanted person was hiding in the territory of the Republic of Turkey.

Although MVD do not name Zhirovkin, the described crime fits what Zhirovkin was wanted for;

From his work computer, [Zhirovkin] opened the database of the holders of bonus cards and made their clones.

Electronics and household appliances were bought with fake cards in other stores of the chain.

In total, 53 such instances were recorded with a total damage of 3.5 million rubles.

The above is from a 2012 report from Izvestia, citing Zhirovkin’s crimes in Russia prior to fleeing the country. Note there is a discrepancy between the 3.5 million ruble amount cited in 2012 and MVD’s “almost 500,000 rubles” amount in 2025.

As to what happens next, MVD states only that “the necessary investigative actions are being carried out”.

Antares Trade was an MLM Ponzi scheme launched in 2020. Zhirovkin fronted the scam, playing fictional founder and CEO “Alex Richter”.

Following multiple fraud warnings, Antares Trade collapsed in August 2021. Zhirovkin launched an Alcor Trade reboot, which again collapsed in February 2022.

With the assistance of readers, BehindMLM was able to confirm Zhirovkin was hiding in the Dominican Republic circa 2021.

In tipping me off about Zhirovkin’s Turkey arrest, another BehindMLM reader claims Zhirovkin fled the Dominican Republic amid personal safety concerns.

Organized crime is reported to be flourishing in Turkey over the past few years.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who oversees the country’s two main law enforcement agencies — the police and the gendarmerie — claimed in a letter to parliament that more than 660 organized crime groups operating in Turkey had been dismantled over the past year.

While the minister sought to highlight the government’s crackdown on criminal networks, he inadvertently acknowledged that authorities had for years allowed such groups to operate freely in Turkey, neglected their activities and failed to take an action until recently.

According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Nordic Monitor, between June 2023 and August 2024, Turkish authorities conducted over 1,600 operations, detaining 11,635 people and formally arresting more than 4,500.

Yerlikaya failed to provide figures on how many of those arrested were ultimately convicted since most arrestees are released at their first hearing and acquittals are the most common outcome at the end of trials, largely due to the political connections cultivated by organized crime groups in Turkey and the judiciary’s subordination to the executive branch.

One can only assume Zhirovkin figured he’d be safer hiding out in Turkey. He’s certainly not the first MLM Ponzi scammer to do so.

Pending Zhirovkin ever being held accountable for Antares Trade and Alcor Trade, investor losses remain unknown.