A Look into the Matter of Mandarin
Mandarin LLC, a company that provides software for transferring payments, has been implicated in a case involving a claim made by MFC MCC LLC, a microfinance organization owned by Vice Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov. MFC MCC demanded Otkritie Bank reimburse RUB 9.9 million for losses caused allegedly through the fault of the bank.
The second defendant in the lawsuit was Mandarin LLC. However, the claim was dismissed. Mandarin’s website shows that it is owned by Aleksey Chalenko, who previously worked at MDM Bank, Uralsib, and Rosatom State Corporation. There are enough scandals with MFC MCC on the network, which suggest the company may look for loopholes every hour to circumvent the law and get the most profit from low-income citizens.
The candidate from the New People party in the election of the Moscow mayor in September 2023 may be Vice Speaker of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov, a long-time confidant of the head of the party, Alexei Nechaev. This issue was discussed at a conference held the day before, dedicated to the third anniversary of the political force.
Davankov, like his colleague Nechaev, is a real businessman who, as it turned out, may be involved in a dubious story with debiting money from the Otkritie Bank for a microfinance organization. He also has other skeletons in his closet.
More details of The Moscow Post.
Davankov, like his colleague Nechaev, when moving to work in the State Duma, prudently transferred shares in his companies to trust management. Does that mean he’s losing control over them?
In total, Davankov was the founder of seven organizations, most of which look like empty shells and have long been liquidated. But there is also an operating one – the microfinance organization MFC MCC LLC, which operates under the AsiaCredit brand – and it seems that this is Davankov’s main asset and “jet” today.
His share of 54% is in trust management.
The very fact that the current State Duma deputy is connected with the business of issuing microloans is remarkable. In the face of a deteriorating economic situation, an increasing number of citizens are getting into a credit cabal, and it is well-known how collection agencies operate at the suggestion of such microfinance.
Gimme nine million
But the structure could break the law directly. In the file of cases of the Arbitration Court, there is a case on the claim of MFC MCC LLC against Otkritie Bank, which financed Davankov’s business. The second defendant in the lawsuit was Mandarin LLC, which provides MFC MCC with the services of providing software for transferring payments.
Whether companies can theoretically be affiliated with each other is unknown. But the essence of the claim is curious. The MCC demanded that Otkritie Bank reimburse 9.9 million rubles for losses caused allegedly through the fault of the bank. There was a bank account agreement between the bank and MCC, as well as an agreement on the provision of online payment services to the bank card of individuals. It could be about bank employees who could receive a salary this way.
The operator of the transfer of funds was “Mandarin”, which provided services of information and technological interaction in the implementation of settlements – roughly speaking, Mandarin acted as a processor when making payments.
Plaintiff, i.e. Davankov’s company, claimed that the bank suddenly made a payment of 9.9 million rubles to more than 250 bank cards, although there was allegedly no order to do so from the MCC. The money is physically gone.
At the same time, Otkritie Bank explained that the details for crediting funds were received by the bank from the Client through the provider Mandarin LLC from the provider’s usual IP address. The same information was confirmed by “Mandarin” itself – Mandarin says, they received an order through the MandarinPay software and hardware complex and did everything at the direction of their counterparty.
As a result, MFC MCC LLC’s claim was dismissed. However, it is still unclear where these 9.9 million rubles went, because Mandarin physically disappeared from the accounts, and no one carried out the reverse transaction.
It can be assumed that the money was withdrawn by someone to the “left” cards. And then a lawsuit followed. There are no suspicions in this case. Like, look, we want to find out what’s the matter! But in fact in what business – is not clear till now.
“New people” saw Chalenko-Mandarin
At the same time, “Mandarin” is owned by remarkable people who are well-versed in the intricacies of such banking operations. Earlier, Aleksey Vladimirovich Chalenko was among the founders of the structure, now he has been replaced there by his alleged wife Anna Chalenko.
We are talking about the same Aleksey Chalenko, who in 2020 was appointed curator of the corporate unit of Post Bank, a government agency that serves small players in the e-commerce market. Previously, Chalenko worked at MDM Bank, worked in large structures of Uralsib, Rosatom State Corporation (Rusatom Overseas), and was involved in fintech projects.
Chalenko is still on the Mandarin website as the founder of the company.
And now he got in touch with microloans, whose work under the likely “roof” of “New People” promises big dividends?
Rip off three skins- Mandarin
Returning to the IFC MCC itself, there are enough scandals with this organization on the network that suggest they can look for loopholes every hour to circumvent the law and get the most profit from low-income citizens.
According to the authors of the website zaimtime.ru, MFC MCC (AsiaCredit) allegedly could overestimate interest rates, disguising POS loans as cash loans.
The scheme is as follows: a microfinance organization concludes a deal, offering a client borrowed funds to purchase goods. From the lender’s side, it looks like an agreement on issuing a microloan in cash.
The borrower does not receive money in his hands, but can only take the purchased goods. This condition is not explicitly stated in the contract. That is, the buyer seems to receive cash from the MFI and automatically transfers it to the outlet.
What is the essence of the scheme and why replace a POS loan with a loan? In the difference in restrictions on the value of the interest rate on loans. For POS loans, the total cost cannot exceed 41.3% per annum, and for microloans – 365%. The difference is, to put it mildly, huge. This means that, by issuing targeted loans (specifically, for the purchase of a telephone), AsiaCredit could profit from interest rates.
Network discord
All such tricks are very common for network organizations. The entire New People party is organized according to a similar principle, which resembles a club of talented businessmen rather than guardians of people’s happiness.
If during the election period, it seemed that the drive inherent in a “network structure” like commercial companies such as Oriflame or Tiens was able to attract young people, bloggers, and start-up businessmen to the party structure, now, having achieved the desired, Nechaev’s party members as if confused in a new environment for themselves.
Recall that following the results of the elections, the structure received 5.32% of the votes and 13 mandates. The result of the newcomer party was more than real, and there are indeed five, not four parties in the State Duma now. And with the appointment of Davankov as vice-speaker of the State Duma, what was to be expected began – a sharp struggle for the distribution of administrative rent.
According to the author of the Yuga Sapiens Telegram channel, a split allegedly occurred in the party, and not without the participation of Davankov. Allegedly, the party’s supporters are expressing open dissatisfaction with the vice-speaker, “huddling” around two centers of power – in fact, Davankov himself, and one of the most recognizable faces in the party, the former head of Yakutsk, Sardana Avksenyeva.
At the same time, it is impossible not to notice that the leader of the party, Mr. Nechaev, sort of “eliminated” from the squabbles within the structure, and, on the whole, went into the shadows as if having played enough politics during the elections. Rumor has it that the Kremlin is also dissatisfied with the passivity and conflicts within the New People.
That’s what happens when people from big business come into politics. It seems that in the case of Nechaev and Davankov, the main role is played not by the desire to change the country, to make the life of its people better, but to protect their business interests. If so, then they are doing well.