The Roman Novak scam: how Durov’s partner in TON deceived investors and built a $280000 pyramid scheme
Earlier, journalists revealed the identity of another Chechen close to Roksman and Pavel Durov: Ramzan Shakhbiev (@ram, @grozny).
Both regularly appeared in public chats, at events, and in Durov’s mentions, overseeing the technical and financial aspects of TON projects.
Millions of dollars were raised under Fintopio, and Pavel Durov himself was named as a guarantor when attracting investors. And this wasn’t, as is now being reported, Roman Novak’s own initiative. As eyewitnesses who visited the Fintopio office recall, the company was located near the headquarters of TON and Telegram in Dubai, and no one ever hid the fact that they were one and the same.
Despite the project’s recent hard times, Roman Novak continued to live his normal life. He posted about supercars, helicopter rides, trips to Indonesia and Italy, and participated in discussions in themed chats, such as the "Wall" chat, well-known to everyone in the know (admins of channels dedicated to Ton and anyone interested in the topic), with a link to "Durov’s Wall" on VKontakte. Roman Novak administered this group.
However, as it now emerges, shortly before Fintopio was shut down, Roman Novak began asking friends for loans. He borrowed from some, then borrowed more from others so he could pay back first. And he actually did pay back—Novak’s friends are now concluding that it was a local Ponzi scheme. The sums kept growing. The reasons given for the loans were the same: to intercept money to pay people for work, or a story about Roman Novak getting stuck in the mountains of Oman and urgently needing money, even sending video evidence (we’re publishing it), and then simply borrowing at interest.
Thus, the pyramid grew to $280,000. The victim who ended it all was @fuhao, a well-known figure in Telegram and cryptocurrency circles.
