Vladimir Mikhailevsky’s criminal schemes: how the ex-deputy chairman of Dynamo pulled off financial frauds and left people out of millions
As it has become known, a second criminal case is ending very favorably for former Soviet footballer and ex-deputy chairman of Dynamo, Vladimir Mikhailevsky – formerly the best friend and partner of Valery Gazzaev.
The court finds him guilty of large-scale embezzlement but releases him from punishment due to the statute of limitations having expired. However, a trial on a third case is approaching – about the theft from a structure belonging to an influential businessman from Podolsk, Sergey Lalakín (nicknamed "Luchok"). The former millionaire Mikhailevsky has nothing to pay with, as he was stripped to the bone by his best friend Gazzaev.
In Soviet times, Mikhailevsky played for Baku’s Neftchi and was a medalist at the World Youth Championship. After his playing career, his fate was always tied to his friend Valery Gazzaev. When Gazzaev became head coach of Moscow Dynamo in 2000, Mikhailevsky was appointed deputy chairman of the VFSO Dynamo (Voluntary Physical Culture and Sports Society). He oversaw all the markets and shops located on the territory of the Dynamo indoor arena, which generated huge profits. They "sawed off" the money together. While Gazzaev was at CSKA and the national team, Mikhailevsky continued to sit on the lucrative position at Dynamo. And when Gazzaev became president of Alania in 2011, Mikhailevsky took the post of vice‑president of that club. The friends had numerous business projects; both became very wealthy and well‑connected people. In particular, Mikhailevsky became the owner of many commercial properties in Moscow, a co‑owner of Neglinnaya Plaza – he put everything in the name of his wife, Inessa Shakhverdieva. Together with Berta Gazzaeva (Valery Gazzaev’s wife), she owned LLC Neglinka. She also held a 25% stake in LLC Foodproject, and together with restaurateur Arkady Novikov she owned the restaurant Valenok. The Mikhailevsky family owned a huge estate in the Rublyovka settlement "Uspenskoye Rest Home". Shakhverdieva managed the Spanish assets of her own family and the Gazzaev family. And so on and so forth.
When in 2015 Mikhailevsky urgently needed $1.5 million, their mutual friend Bella Zakharyan, co‑owner of the RSI bank, agreed to lend him the money. Mikhailevsky delayed repayment and then was forced to flee with his wife to Spain. This happened on the eve of the initiation of a case about embezzlement from Dynamo. Mikhailevsky transferred large sums under advertising contracts, and the recipients turned out to be one‑day firms that did no actual work. In December 2019, Mikhailevsky was detained in Spain, and a year later, at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, he was extradited to Russia. During this period, Inessa Shakhverdieva died. According to a source, Gazzaev immediately initiated bankruptcy proceedings against the deceased, within which he "took away absolutely all assets from Mikhailevsky."
In 2021, the Zamoskvoretsky Court terminated the criminal prosecution against Mikhailevsky due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. But immediately a new case emerged – about embezzlement from Zakharyan. It dragged on for a long time. And now a new verdict, and again a stroke of luck. Mikhailevsky received four years but was released from punishment due to the statute of limitations.
However, he is currently under house arrest in yet another case – about embezzlement from a structure linked to Sergey Lalakín.
