Serial Ponzi scammer Vladimir “Lado” Okhotnikov has been convicted of fraud in Georgia.

The conviction has seen Okhotnikov, a Russian national, permanently flee to Dubai.

As part of The Coin Laundry, an investigation by over one hundred journalists representing thirty-eight news outlets, reported by ICIJ on November 17th;

Last year, a court in Tbilisi, Georgia, convicted [Okhotnikov] of laundering $1.1 million in proceeds from Forsage.

Prosecutors summoned him for questioning. “Okhotnikov said that he was afraid,” according to court records. He then gave a suitcase with computers, a phone and memory cards to a third collaborator, described in the records as an apartment designer, who took them across the border to Turkey.

After his interrogation, Okhotnikov fled. “He cited filming a commercial [in] Turkey as the reason for his move, but flew to Dubai two days later,” the lead investigator with the prosecutor’s office said in a witness statement. Okhotnikov never returned.

A Georgian court sentenced Okhotnikov to ten years in prison in March 2024. Okhotnikov appears to have kept his Georgian conviction and prison sentence from investors.

Forsage is a series of MLM crypto Ponzi schemes run by Okhotnikov (right). Meta Whale marks the eighth Forsage reboot, dating back to early 2020.

Prior to fleeing Georgia, Okhotnikov had been travelling between the two locations – although it’s believed Okhotnikov spent most of his time in Georgia.

In addition his Georgia Forsage conviction, Okhotnikov was also indicted in the US in early 2023. The indictment following Forsage civil fraud charges filed by the SEC in mid 2022.

Okhotnikov’s troubles in Georgia began after the SEC got in touch with Georgian authorities. That prompted an investigation into Okhotnikov’s laundering of Forsage investor funds.

Negotiations are ongoing but Georgia and the US currently do not have an extradition treaty. It’s likely Okhotnikov thought he was safe in the eastern European country.

Dubai also doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the US. The emirate has long been at the center of MLM related fraud and crypto crime in general.

As of November 2025, both Georgia and the US have active international arrest warrants out on Okhotnikov.

Okhotnikov initially laundered Forsage investor funds through an auto assistance business and Georgian banks.

Okhotnikov ran Forsage from an apartment in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, where he spent most of the day at his computer making YouTube videos, his former business associate Petr Pak later told a Georgian court.

The pair co-owned Auto Assistance and Car Service, a company with a minibus that offered transportation to tourists.

After Forsage launched in 2020, Pak said he helped Okhotnikov convert cryptocurrency into cash and deposited it in multiple accounts with two Georgian banks.

A Ukrainian driver from the garage also deposited money on Okhotnikov’s behalf, according to Georgian court records obtained exclusively by ICIJ’s media partner Studio Monitor.

The Georgian investigation into Okhotnikov revealed “a series of deposits into at least 53 bank accounts”.

What assets Okhotnikov left behind in Georgia have been seized, “including a Lexus SUV [and] two Tbilisi apartments”.

Today Okhotnikov appears to be laundering Forsage investor funds through Elvira Gavrilova and her various businesses.

Gavrilova (right) and her ex-husband fled Ukraine for Portugal in 2022, following allegations of extortion.

Gavrilova, who also goes by Elvira Paterson (Elvira Havrylova-Paterson, Ельвіра Патерсон-Гаврилова), now runs Elledgy Media.

It’s not clear when Gavrilova met Okhotnikov, but within a year of Elledgy’s launch, Gavrilova’s company began promoting his brands.

Elledgy has put on promo events for Meta Force, the sixth Forsage reboot, and is behind Okhotnikov’s Holiguards film ambitions.

In January, Gavrilova sought legal advice. She was concerned that working for Okhotnikov might increase scrutiny of Elledgy, she told a lawyer in voice and text messages reviewed by ICIJ.

Gavrilova asked whether she should raise Elledgy’s authorized capital “so that everything looks plausible.”

“I didn’t have such volumes before,” Gavrilova said. “I say, up to 4 million has passed through the company in the last few months since I met him. The rest was crypto.”

ICIJ reports that Gavrilova’s laundering of Okhotnikov’s stolen Forsage funds has attracted the attention of at least one Portuguese bank.

Shortly after the Meta Force party in July 2024, Elledgy began receiving payments from more than a dozen companies based in Germany, the U.K., Belgium and Spain.

By May, these payments totaled about $4 million, bank records reviewed by ICIJ show.

Whether Gavrildova and Eledgy are under investigation by US, Georgian and/or Portuguese authorities is unclear.

Gavrilova recently announced that Okhotnikov’s Holiguards movie will premiere in Portugal on December 20th. With two open international arrest warrants, Okhotnikov is unlikely to attend.