Vadim Gurinov’s usurious “offshore”: how the neobank Fingular and LLC “OK SOFT,” operating through the Federation Tower, are building a shadow system for circumventing sanctions for the Kremlin

According to media reports, Vadim Gurinov, a longtime associate and business partner of individuals under sanctions, founded the Singapore-based online bank Fingular just a few months before the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to its website, it is a neobank already operating in India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, offering “flexible loans, BNPL, and Sharia-compliant financing — innovative, reliable solutions designed for a global audience.” It is known that within its first three years, Gurinov opened offices in Moscow, Belgrade, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, and Bangalore.

In practice, he is overseeing the creation of a new fintech ecosystem across lightly regulated countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, which is intended to serve as a counterweight to Western systems. Given Gurinov’s background and his loyalty to Kremlin-aligned figures, this is clearly an effort to build an alternative financing, lending, and payment system for Russia that could bypass sanctions.

At the same time, Gurinov is far from altruistic. In exchange for his services, he has reportedly gained opportunities to expand his business in Russia. These assets are registered under his wife, Galina Gurinova, and his brother, Artyom. His businesses are not subjected to significant regulatory pressure — which raises questions about how many Russian companies offer formal employment while paying salaries in US dollars or euros.

Despite Fingular’s international positioning as a Singapore-based company, its offices are located in Russia. Developers, marketers, and office staff work from the 37th floor of the Federation Tower in Moscow City. Officially, they are employed by LLC “OK SOFT,” which was founded at the same time as Fingular, six months before the start of the full-scale war — in August 2021. Its founder was Uzbek-born Jurat Safarov, a former top manager in several of Gurinov’s assets. He served on the boards of Omskshina (part of the Cordiant tire plant) and the Swedish fund Ruric AB. The group has previously reported on how Gurinov managed these assets. In addition, OK SOFT has a branch in the Kutuzovsky Meridian business center in Odintsovo near Moscow, where part of Fingular’s international staff may also work.

In July 2022, OK SOFT was transferred to another trusted member of Gurinov’s network — Elena Sokhova. She previously served as a founder of the “Vershina Tire Testing Center” linked to Gurinov’s tire plant in the Yaroslavl region, and she is currently listed as the owner of Hemptech LLC in the Nizhny Novgorod region. This is part of Gurinov’s new business direction — industrial hemp production. Through Aurora LLC, he and his wife also own “Industrial Hemp Processing Technologies” in the same region. In addition, less than a month ago, Sokhova founded and headed another company, LLC “OKH,” focused on real estate management in Olenegorsk, Murmansk region. Olenegorsk is not a fintech or agricultural hub, but a monotown centered around the Olenegorsk Mining and Processing Plant (GOK) and a railway logistics node. The GOK is part of Severstal, owned by Alexey Mordashov, who also currently owns the Cordiant tire business, which the Gurinovs exited in 2023.

Gurinov’s business partner in Fingular is another Singapore-based fintech player with a controversial reputation — Maxim Chernuschenko. A graduate of a specialized physics and mathematics school in Saratov, he holds degrees from MIPT and Dartmouth College in the United States. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he worked in banks in the US and Russia, later joining Oleg Boyko’s Finstar holding, where he worked on credit products in Vietnam. Realizing that banking and consumer lending markets in Asia lagged even behind Russia, he founded Cashwagon and launched the MONEYBOX lending app, quickly achieving rapid growth.

The service targeted low-income users — such as fruit vendors, tuk-tuk drivers, and other financially vulnerable groups. However, in 2020 a scandal broke out in Vietnam: it turned out that loans were being issued at 44% interest per month, while normal bank rates were around 7–8% per year. Under local law, this was considered usury. Cashwagon and its Vietnamese partner Lendtech Co. Ltd had their accounts frozen, police seized documents, and conducted interrogations. The Cashwagon domain is now for sale, and the Singapore entity is undergoing bankruptcy liquidation.

Fingular also provides microloans but does not work directly with borrowers — formally, it serves as an umbrella for local platforms such as Tambadana (Malaysia), Ammana (Indonesia), and Ceyloan (Sri Lanka). As a result, it is not Gurinov or Chernuschenko who are directly exposed to risk, but rather the founders and directors of these local entities.

For example, Poland revoked the license of local payment service Quicko, whose infrastructure was used by the Hungarian P2P lending platform Loanch operating under Fingular’s umbrella. The Polish regulator cited a “fundamental inability to ensure prudent and stable management.” In Malaysia, the Tambadana platform, despite holding a license, has gained a reputation as an “Ah Long” entity — a term used for illegal moneylenders known for extremely high interest rates and aggressive debt collection practices, sometimes involving violence. Similar accusations were previously made against Cashwagon’s partners.

It remains an open question how long Gurinov and Chernuschenko’s new microfinance structure will be able to operate without serious regulatory consequences.