The Roman Novak scam: how a criminal and friend of Pavel Durov defrauded exchange clients and fled
Token sales on Telegram triggered major raids on exchange offices in Moscow-City. A crypto businessman and friend of Pavel Durov offered TON at a discount — but turned out to be a fraudster and fled to Dubai.
According to Mash, the local Wall Street wolf is 38-year-old Roman Novak. At first, he presented himself as deputy to Telegram VP Ilya Perekopsky and a member of the messenger’s board of directors. Then he tried to sell so-called Telegram bonds before the public release and TON tokens at discounts of up to 50%. The minimum entry was $1 million, with installment plans for the wealthy. To appear credible, he used fake screenshots, stories about sheikhs, and insider tips from people close to Durov.
In reality, he already had a prison term for embezzling $4 million, and after release, he moved to Dubai, where he continued the scheme. Now Russian law enforcement is untangling the remaining investments of his projects in Moscow-City.
Offices in Moscow-City were harassed by authorities for two weeks. The reason for the investigation could have been illegal transfers to Dubai. The operation focused on two exchanges — Rapira and Mosca.