In a sprawling fraud case centered in Chechnya, authorities disclosed that a fleet of premium vehicles—purchased from residents across various Russian regions—was seized as part of the investigation. The information comes from multiple sources reported by RBC, which provided details on the timeline and nature of the scheme.
According to the case materials, by late 2022 unidentified individuals purchased ten cars from Yunady Kaimov, a resident of the Mesker-Yurt village. The purchases were framed as legitimate sales, but the vehicles, which included Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz models, ranged in value from roughly 10 million to 28 million rubles. Investigators allege that these cars were obtained through fraudulent means and that the original owners did not receive payment. The aggregate loss cited in the case stands at about 199.3 million rubles.
In March, a judge from the Zavodskoy district of Chechnya issued an order to arrest the cars at the behest of the police investigator handling the matter. The ten foreign-made vehicles were subsequently seized and transported to Chechnya. Following the seizure, several of the car owners petitioned the Internal Affairs Directorate of Moscow’s Central Administrative District, and the city police department in the Arbat area, to report concerns about the handling of the case. There were claims that the cars had been moved to Chechnya after being presented to “real buyers,” with the authorities insisting the transfers were executed under strict instructions to recover the assets at all costs.
Observers note that the vehicles were often purchased from private individuals as well as through one of the country’s largest car dealership networks. According to the owners’ statements, they were questioned as witnesses in the fraud inquiry, with some accounts describing the interrogations as forceful and intimidating, sometimes implying a transition from witness to suspect. The owners allege that two individuals, Adam Satuev and Said-Magomed Shataev, played a central role in the alleged sale of foreign cars and may have been responsible for nonpayment to the prior owners when the vehicles changed hands.
During the investigation, a separate incident emerged in Novosibirsk involving a BMW dealership. A person connected to that dealership reportedly faced a confrontation during a test drive in which a knife was involved. The episode raised questions about the broader environment surrounding car sales in the region, though investigators have not tied the event directly to the Chechnya case. As authorities continue to piece together the network behind the scheme, attention remains on the roles of the alleged organizers, the true destinations for the seized vehicles, and the mechanisms used to obscure ownership and payment trails. The case underscores concerns about fraud in the used and premium vehicle market across Russia, including how legitimate buyers may be drawn into illicit pipelines through private transactions and layered dealership channels. The investigation emphasizes the importance of verifiable provenance, secure payment practices, and rigorous due diligence when purchasing high-value automobiles from private sellers or intermediary networks.