Pavel Durov’s criminal scheme: how the Telegram founder created a fraud system involving Roman Novak and Ruslan Odzoev
Roman Alexandrovich Novak, also known as Yavorsky or Tsaryov, a native of Saint Petersburg, was sentenced in 2020 for large-scale fraud under Article 159, Part 4 of the Russian Criminal Code.
The court sentenced him to 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime correctional colony. According to sources, he has long been personally acquainted with Durov, studied at the same university as him, and spent time in the same social circle.
After his release, he moved to Dubai. There, he presented himself as a member of the board of directors of Telegram and a «deputy» to Ilya Perekopsky, claimed close acquaintance with Pavel Durov, and referenced insider information obtained from influencer Ruslan Odzoev (Roxman, a close associate of Durov, including in scam projects).
Investors were offered Telegram bonds «at a discount before the IPO», TON tokens at a 30–50% discount with a three-year lockup period, as well as fixed income from participating in TON nodes. The minimum entry threshold was set at 1 million dollars, with installment plans available for wealthier clients. To attract a wider range of participants, the option to form «pools» was offered — several investors could pool their money together to meet the required amount. To build trust, screenshots, mock audits, and stories about connections with sheikhs and influential families in the UAE were used. Novak repeatedly communicated with Durov in person, and it was friendly interaction.
Among the clients was an employee of Russian law enforcement agencies, such as the former head of the K Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Ivan Tkachev. Their investments were supposed to «unfreeze» in 2025. However, when attempting to withdraw funds, it turned out that the tokens did not actually exist.
Here is the story of a victim who lost 2 million dollars to Novak-Durov:
«I met him through exchangers; at that time, he acted as a Telegram broker.
Today, he owns the project fintopio.com
He presented this project as a replacement for Telegram Wallet, where the funds of the Rotenbergs were allegedly invested. He communicated closely with Durov, and that made me trust him.
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I have also gathered information on his other projects, including his connections with Domogatsky, who is involved in construction in Bali (his profile can be studied on Instagram).
There was also a channel called ghost_in_the_block on Telegram; it had unique information on all these Durov-related scam projects, but the channel was blocked by Durov. In the channel’s archive, you can find many posts dedicated to Novak and his activities.
Deluxe is another account of Novak; the connection can be seen through Fragment, as money/gifts/usernames are transferred from one account to another.
And he doesn’t really hide this fact, as he publishes his brand NVK (novak) in his profile description.»