Artem Gvozdulin, 32, moved from Moscow to Bali 6 years ago.
Back in Russia, the young man took up photography, success quickly came to him, says Alexander Gvozdulin's father to RT.
“Artyom took pictures of celebrities, his photographs were published by major media outlets, in National Geographic magazine and other publications,” he says.
Artyom was also fond of aerial photography and construction of drones.
In Bali, according to his father, the son was engaged in surfing and photography.
On May 19, Gvozdulin did not show up for surfing training.
Friends sounded the alarm and informed his parents in Moscow, Alexander recalls.
A few hours later, Artyom was found at the police station.
Gvozdulina's mother Galina on social networks said that a parcel came to her son that day.
“Artem often orders various spare parts for a camera or drone by mail.
The parcels arrive at the guesthouse where he lives, the employees take them and pass them on to him, ”she wrote.
This time, she continues, a courier arrived with a parcel and did not give it to an employee, telling Artyom to go out to him himself and sign.
Shortly before that, Galina reports, her son drowned the drone and was waiting for a spare part, therefore, without suspecting anything, he signed for the parcel.
Artyom took the box home, where the police were already waiting for him.
As it turned out, instead of spare parts, the package contained a piece of wood soaked in DMT, a potent drug.
Gvozdulin was detained and allowed to take only a yoga mat with him.
$ 30 thousand for freedom
Artyom was accused of smuggling illegal substances.
Instagram
© Artem Gvozdulin
“Possession of drugs is classified as a serious crime in Indonesia.
According to article 111 of the 2009 Drug Law, such an offense is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 4 to 12 years.
There are no indulgences for foreigners, "the Russian embassy in Indonesia told RT.
Gvozdulin did not admit his guilt, the drug test was negative.
Artyom is now in the isolation ward awaiting trial.
The conditions of detention, according to his family, are terrible.
“He is in solitary confinement, sleeping on his rug, no pillows, no blankets.
He puts a water bottle under his head.
In the isolation ward, Artyom recently contracted Dengue fever, "Alexander tells RT.
The young man's parents and friends are sure that he was set up.
“The package said that it had been sent from Ukraine.
But Artyom never ordered anything there, he didn't even know anyone from there.
Which drugs?
He led a healthy lifestyle, played sports, ”says Alexander.
The day after the arrest, when Artyom was still at the police station, two immigrants from Russia, Artyom Kotukhov and Ilgam Muzafin, came to him, introducing themselves as employees of Indonesian law enforcement agencies.
“They offered to“ solve the problem ”for money, explains Alexander Gvozdulin.
According to him, the men demanded more than $ 30 thousand for their services.
“Neither Artyom nor our family have that kind of money,” continues Alexander.
Gvozdulin refused to pay.
Together with Artyom's friends, his parents began to understand what had happened and found out: their son is far from the first Russian in Bali to have encountered such a thing in recent years.
"Decided" from Russia
By the age of 33, Pavel Alimov was already a millionaire.
Success came to him thanks to the cryptocurrency business, which he took up while living in Bali.
© Photo from personal archive
“In the first few months of work, the number of paying users of the project, where I worked as a managing director, exceeded a million people.
It was real magic - with crazy numbers, money and a luxurious life.
We were number 1 worldwide in terms of the number of transactions of one of the cryptocurrencies, the capitalization of the project exceeded $ 1 billion, ”Alimov recalls.
But happiness, he continues, did not last long.
“After 6 months of work, there was discontent on the part of the founders of the project, incomprehensible accusations of waste and unsatisfactory results,” says Pavel.
He explains that he was not officially involved in the project.
“The conditions were as follows - a salary of $ 2,000 and 5% of the profit.
And at some point, the founders refused to pay for the work of outsourcing specialists and companies, in the end I ended up owing them.
The conflict was settled, but the residue remained, we decided to disperse, ”the entrepreneur continues.
Upon leaving the team, Pavel was paid his salary, but a percentage of the profit - about a million dollars - was never given.
Alimov began to fight with former partners for his own money.
And at some point in his life, Maxim Zhiltsov appeared - also a Russian who lives in Bali.
He introduced himself as a "fixer" and offered to help get the funds back, Alimov said.
“Maxim did not ask for money, he said, first we will solve the problem, and then the payment.
Such a proposal could not but rejoice, and I willingly gave all the necessary information to Maxim, ”he recalls.
It was early 2021.
"I was hoping for a legal solution"
On February 27, Pavel rented a villa for a party with friends.
Maxim also came there - it was assumed that he and Alimov would discuss Pavel's affairs, but Zhiltsov unexpectedly offered to smoke marijuana.
“I refused because I am categorically against drugs,” Alimov recalls.
“And around 22:00 policemen suddenly burst into the villa, about 10 people, they shouted the name Jonathan McClain and asked who it was.
I used this name in Bali as a pseudonym, and no one knew my real name and surname, except for the closest people.
That is, the police officers had the papers for the arrest in fact for a non-existent person, but this did not bother them much, ”Alimov says.
Inside, he continues, two Russians entered - as it turned out later, the very same Ilgam and Artem: “They began to actively lead the process of detention, giving instructions to the police on what to do.”
The villa was searched, but nothing forbidden was found.
Then the police demanded to go to the house of Alimov himself and inspect it.
“And literally right away, just entering, one of them reached for my shoe, which was at the door, and pulled out 6.7 grams of marijuana,” says Pavel.
Then Alimov was taken to the police station. He had to admit that marijuana belongs to him. "They detained my girlfriend with me and said that if I don't confess, they will put her in jail." Alimov agreed. The drug test, like that of Gvozdulin, was negative. “But in the case of Indonesian justice, this is not better, and even worse for the detainee. The logic here is that if drugs have been found in your possession and you are clean according to the test, it means that you are not a consumer, but a dealer. If I had a positive test, then as a consumer I would face a shorter sentence, which, moreover, is often served in a rehabilitation center, and not in prison, ”explains Pavel.
“In the middle of the night, they woke me up in the 'aquarium' - a cell with transparent walls, where I was sitting, and took me upstairs, where the head of the police department in charge of my arrest, and the same two, Ilgam and Artyom, sat,” continues Alimov. “They behaved like“ good ”and“ bad ”cops: one swore, and the other offered a“ solution ”- one and a half billion Indonesian rupees, or a little more than $ 110 thousand,” recalls Pavel.
“I refused, because I sincerely hoped for a legal solution to the issue, because I am innocent, my analyzes are clean,” Alimov said.
In addition, he continues, he simply did not have that kind of money - the funds left after working in a cryptocurrency project had long since ended.
“Then they got angry, began to demand from me that I turn in one of my friends or acquaintances.
I also refused, and Artyom told me that I would never leave here now, ”Alimov said.
"If you don't throw it up, you will sit down"
Artyom Gvozdulin and Pavel Alimov suffered from the same criminal group of immigrants from Russia and the countries of the former CIS, led by Artyom Kotukhov.
“They have been operating in Bali for at least five years, specializing in Russian-speaking visitors and residents of the island.
During this time, several hundred people have become their victims, "says Stanislav (name changed at his request. -
RT
), one of the administrators of the Let's Clean Bali Telegram channel, dedicated to the activities of the criminal group.
The standard divorce scheme, Stanislav explains, looked like this:
“They find a rich tourist or expat, plant drugs in his house, or in his car or personal belongings.
They handed them over to the police, and then they demand money for solving the problem, posing as high-ranking security officials - either investigators or, in general, Interpol.
“The gang actively monitored social networks and put wealthy people to work, showing their beautiful life on social networks.
Further, in villas or in cars, the police found drugs.
After the arrest of the victims, Artyom Kotukhov and Ilgam Muzafin appeared at the police station and offered to solve the problem, threatening them with prison terms up to life imprisonment.
The amount of remuneration for the release varied from about $ 10 thousand to $ 150 thousand. Many, giving the last money for the ransom, still received sentences from 4 to 12 years in an Indonesian prison, "- says the Telegram channel" Clean up Bali ".
There were other ways of "making money", Stanislav continues.
"For example, they often took orders, from Moscow and not only, for the" landing "of a person," says Stanislav.
So, Pavel Alimov has no doubt that the drugs were planted on him by Maxim Zhiltsov, also a member of the group, and that Pavel's former partners ordered criminal prosecution against him from criminals.
“It’s easier and cheaper for them to jail me than to pay my million,” the entrepreneur is sure.
Zhiltsov, he continues, was aware of the whole situation with the conflict between Paul and his former companions.
And the money that Kotukhov and Muzafin extorted from him had to go towards “paying” for their “services”.
“They recruited new participants and informants with the help of the same toss - they said, if you don’t give it to others, we’ll give it to you, and you’ll sit down. Sometimes they were prostitutes - the bandits called them in, used the services, and then blackmailed them to work for them, ”Stanislav continues. “Already in prison I met one such girl - she refused to work with Kotukhov and Muzafin, and they planted drugs on her,” adds Pavel Alimov.
At the same time, Stanislav continues, none of the swindlers was even close to any law enforcement agency.
“They had everything forged - both IDs and legends.
They often said that they have connections everywhere, almost in the government of Indonesia.
In most cases, people believed them and agreed to cooperate. "
So, Kotukhov told his victims that he was allegedly married to the daughter of a major local police chief.
“But it was a lie,” adds Stanislav.
The Telegram channel "Clean up Bali" currently has about 3 thousand people.
Almost all of them suffered from some of their friends or relatives, or they themselves faced the activities of intruders.
Channel subscribers share their stories.
“Maxim Zhiltsov threatened a girl who worked as a hairdresser in Bali.
At 5 in the morning, he entered her hotel room, hit her on the head and began to strangle her, holding her mouth and nose.
Earlier, he demanded from her to plant drugs or report to the famous Russian cafe "Matryoshka", the girl refused to do this and was subjected to physical violence.
No one came out to her screams, that night she managed to avoid a tragic fate only because the criminal got scared of something and ran away, ”the channel reported.
In some cases, subscribers say, those detained with drugs were actually released or given less time than they were threatened with.
But more often they simply extorted money without providing any assistance.
Capture and exposure
Over the years, criminals have only become impudent from their impunity.
“Previously, they specialized mainly in tourists.
And with the beginning of the pandemic, they switched to local residents - entrepreneurs, freelancers, ”says Stanislav.
This ultimately led to the capture of the intruders.
They chose Nikolai Romanov, an Uzbek citizen who owns a motorcycle rental service in Bali, as their next victim, according to the local newspaper BaliForum.
He was approached by a member of a group named Yevgeny Bagryantsev, who introduced himself as an Interpol employee.
He told Romanov that his business was allegedly illegal and that the service was selling drugs.
Bagryantsev threatened Romanov that if he did not pay, he would report it to the police.
For his silence, according to local media reports, Bagryantsev lured from Romanov 400 million rupees (more than $ 27 thousand) and 21 motorcycles.
At first, Nikolai was afraid to go anywhere, thinking that the extortionist was really from Interpol.
But then he decided to report the crime to the police.
Bagryantsev was arrested and charged with fraud, and two other extortionists, Olga Bagryantseva and Maxim Zhiltsov, were put on the wanted list.
Soon three more people were detained - Artyom Kotukhov, Ilgam Muzafin and Sergei Cherednichenko.
“When they were detained, it surprised many people, even the local police.
Those could not believe that these were really not employees - so the bandits managed to make everyone here believe in themselves, ”says Stanislav.
According to him, the leader of the gang, Kotukhov, had a phenomenal acting talent and ability to persuade.
Hope for Justice
The Russian Embassy in Indonesia is aware of the gang's existence.
“In the past few years, the embassy has periodically received messages from Russian citizens that a group of people are operating in Bali who planted drugs.
Since the maintenance of law and order on the territory of Indonesia is the exclusive competence of local law enforcement agencies, for all such appeals, a recommendation is made to submit an appropriate application to the police, and send a copy of the acceptance report to the consular department of the embassy.
Until now, no such documents have been received, ”the department told RT.
One of the reasons for the long-term impunity of the criminals was indeed the fear and silence of the victims, Stanislav believes.
“It would be great if the victims still dared to write their stories to the embassy or police stations, and not just to social media and Telegram groups.
But most people do not want to write anything, this is what the criminals had in mind.
For the victims, the experience was wildly humiliating, offensive - they flew to Bali and ended up in prison, ”explains Stanislav.
Only recently, he continues, the first four victims went to the police.
The majority of the victims, says Stanislav, chose to buy off the scammers: "There are only a few, about 10%."
But even with this in mind, about 40 people are currently in prison, he continues.
Now the victims and their loved ones hope for justice in respect of the detainees and the capture of those who are still on the wanted list.
“If they admit that they planted drugs on the victims, it will be considered a newly discovered circumstance.
It will be possible to demand a reconsideration of the case, ”explains Stanislav.
“My only hope now is that Maxim Zhiltsov will be caught, and he admits that he planted drugs on me,” says Pavel Alimov.
On July 15 he will be sentenced.
If the court finds him guilty, Alimov faces 8 years in prison.