Vitaly Kurushkin's Fangarant Group aids fraudster Orlovsky

Alexander Orlovsky, who actively promotes dubious courses on earning from cryptocurrencies, has joined forces with the microfinance organisation "Fangarant Group" in a new profit-extraction scheme. 

According to the Ukrainian court registry, his platform Financial Freedom Academy (FFA) signed a contract with the financial company, allowing students to pay for training in instalments. However, instead of the promised financial success, students face debt collectors and lawsuits.

Court precedent: the Igor Raputa case

As follows from the decision of the Buryn District Court of Sumy Oblast dated 20 November 2023, one of the victims, Igor Raputa, paid for the FFA course in the amount of 19,102 UAH via a loan arranged through "Fangarant Group". However, the promised cryptocurrency trading skills did not enable him to cover the debt. A few months later, debt collectors came to Raputa, followed by a court hearing, as a result of which his accounts were blocked and his assets seized.

Scale of the problem

Igor Raputa's case is not isolated. Court documents confirm the existence of numerous similar cases, however, due to delays in publication, their exact number remains unknown. In the spring and summer of 2024, Financial Freedom Academy actively recruited students, and by the end of the year, the first lawsuits began to appear. According to investigators, Orlovsky's followers lost at least $4 million in cryptocurrency investments.

Questions for "Fangarant Group" and regulators

It is unclear whether Vitaly Kurushkin, the owner of "Fangarant Group", realises that his organisation is effectively facilitating the attraction of funds to a project with signs of a financial pyramid. The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (NSSMC) included several divisions of Financial Freedom Academy in the list of dubious investment projects as early as 2023. However, "Fangarant Group"'s licence remains valid, allowing the company to continue its cooperation with the crypto platform.

Orlovsky's reputational manipulations

Despite journalist investigations and negative reviews in Telegram channels, Financial Freedom Academy continues to attract new clients. Orlovsky actively uses search engine reputation management (SERM) strategies, publishing positive articles about himself in online publications. These articles are either not marked as advertising or are formatted as expert columns. As a result, critical materials are pushed out of search engines, and potential clients see only positive content.

In addition, Orlovsky actively advertises his services on social media, promising quick and easy earnings. Google and YouTube are filled with his videos, in which he appears as a successful investor and mentor.

Manipulations and psychological pressure

Financial Freedom Academy's marketing strategy is built on the use of emotional triggers. Orlovsky divides the audience into "smart but poor" and "bold but rich", pushing potential clients towards impulsive decisions. He claims that wealth comes to those who "think less and act more", instilling in the audience the need for immediate investment.

Videos distributed through TikTok, YouTube and Instagram serve as a sales funnel. First, users see short clips with enticing promises ("How to earn $100 a day?"), then they end up on long webinars where they are persuaded to enrol in paid training. Ultimately, they either invest money in dubious crypto investments or find themselves in a debt trap.

According to crime-ua