Home and after: A construction pyramid has been exposed in Moscow
The scammers collected citizens' funds under the guise of investing in real estate "to obtain a guaranteed income." The criminals cashed out the depositors' money or transferred it to their accounts. A criminal case has been opened under the article on fraud. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The circle of victims is growing
At least eight new criminal episodes have been added to the charges in the multi-volume criminal case on the theft of funds from depositors of the SDS company (also known as Perspektiva24-Moscow City, We Build for Families, etc.). As Izvestia found out, the investigation began in June of this year, but the first applications against the administration of the VTS were submitted last year.
The company's CEO Dmitry Semenenko was prosecuted in March 2025.
"According to preliminary data, the defendant, being the CEO of a real estate agency, posted advertisements about profitable investment projects on Internet resources, messengers and social networks. Citizens were offered assistance in finding and acquiring liquid land plots and building residential buildings on them. At the same time, a prerequisite for customers was that they receive a large mortgage loan," Irina Volk, an official representative of the Russian Interior Ministry, said in a statement.
After signing the documents, the company either did not fulfill its obligations at all, or partially fulfilled them, allowing violations of the established norms and rules of construction. Initially, there were 11 victims in the case (the total damage was estimated at 100 million rubles), and a few days ago, eight more citizens filed complaints with the police.
"It will work together"
A source familiar with the situation around the SDF says there are hundreds of victims.
— Semenenko actively promoted his project through the media, especially on social networks. He used a fragment of the name of a well-known developer in the name of his company, to which his office has nothing to do. The victims are people who are poorly versed in construction, as a rule, these are those who have not previously taken out a mortgage, do not understand how the same equity agreement works. He offered to invest in real estate during the construction phase in order to sell it later. But instead of an equity participation agreement, which protects the homeowner by virtue of the law, he concluded a contract. Moreover, the contract was not secured by anything — there were not even bank guarantees. He brought people to some construction sites, showed the foundation, the workers. But the documents did not contain any information about the registration of land plots and so on. He started building something for visibility, to appease the clientele, but then the processes were curtailed. It's a building pyramid.
According to him, many of Semenenko's clients came from near-religious communities.
— There are cases when people came based on recommendations received from sects. The man was forced to take out a mortgage, a loan and transferred funds to Semenenko's structures.
The interlocutor is sure that the scheme flourished due to the financial illiteracy of the victims.
— The people I came across didn't know the basic things about the right to real estate. Meanwhile, on average, the victims brought accomplices from 10 to 15 million rubles.
Who is Semenenko?
It is known from open sources that Semenenko was the owner of four legal entities, the name of which included the abbreviation VTS. According to the tax service, SDS, a company registered in Moscow, had the largest revenue in recent years — in 2024, revenue amounted to over 158 million rubles, and net profit was almost 8 million rubles. Semenenko positioned himself as the director of the real estate agency "We build for families", the author of books on staff motivation and increasing sales of medicines. "I have helped 200 investors get a return of 100% per annum, I work with top developers (AAA reliability)... I help to buy objects below the market by 50%," Semenenko says on his website. His Internet page has an office address in the Moscow City IQ Tower.
How not to fall into a trap
"A contract in such a scheme serves as an instrument of crime, so fraudsters give their actions a semblance of legitimacy," says lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova. — Another screen is the creation of real legal entities, an office in a prestigious location. Promotional videos solved a lot in a particular case — professional editing and high-level marketing add realism.
According to her, a contract or supply agreement is often used by fraudsters for criminal purposes.
— People don't always understand the consequences of signing such a document. Meanwhile, criminals hide behind such paper to avoid criminal prosecution. They say, "they say the money was taken, we don't deny it, but unforeseen difficulties arose." And they offer to settle the claim in a civil court. And there's not much you can sue such people for — as a rule, they don't formally have anything to their name.
Krasnova recommends checking legal entities on the FTS website, reviewing court practice with their participation, and monitoring the Internet for negative reviews.
— If we are talking about serious funds, it is better to contact a professional, do not spare money for advice, it can be an experienced realtor or a lawyer in the real estate industry. This will save you from financial disaster.
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