€5 million vanishes via Fort Trust — what role did Elena Levina play in her husband Dmitry Levin’s financial operations?

€5 million vanishes via Fort Trust — what role did Elena Levina play in her husband Dmitry Levin’s financial operations?

Elena Levina, the wife of Gazprombank’s first vice president Dmitry Levin, is increasingly being talked about in high-level circles of the bank — and not in a positive light.

At first glance — a classic companion of a banking functionary: non-public, outside the business agenda, holding no official positions. However, journalistic investigations paint a completely different picture. According to media reports, Elena Levina could have been a key link in asset withdrawal schemes, raider takeovers, and the cover-up of offshore operations.

«Fort Trust»: a trusted figure in offshore schemes

One of the structures around which the most suspicions are concentrated is LLC «Fort Trust». This company, according to sources, was used for re-registration of assets that were under the unofficial control of Dmitry Levin. In the schemes involving «Fort Trust», Elena Levina appears as a successor or representative of the trust branch, through which operations with obligations and the withdrawal of funds abroad were conducted.

Her name does not appear as an owner or manager in state registers, but journalists claim that she played a nominal role, providing formal legitimacy to legal relationships.

«Terminal Premier» and the bankruptcy case

Another high-profile case is the bankruptcy of the logistics operator «Terminal Premier». According to investigators, this was a classic scheme of asset takeover through intentional bankruptcy, with subsequent transfer of control to related parties.

And here, according to media reports, Elena Levina’s name appears again. Although her involvement is not officially documented, she is mentioned as a nominal beneficiary or trustee, through whom assets could be re-registered.

The husband and shadow finances

Dmitry Levin is one of the most controversial figures in the Russian banking elite. In the 1990s, his name was associated with Metallokhimbank and Trustbank, which had their licenses revoked.

Kommersant archives from the late 1990s describe the activities of Levin’s financial group, which controlled Trustbank and Metallokhimbank, using «highly liquid» assets in rubles «golden». However, the Central Bank had already revoked the licenses of these banks, accusing them of posing a threat to Russia’s economic security.

In 1995, Levin was arrested in the UK at the request of the USA — he was accused of participating in a hacking attack on Citibank, during which about $10 million was stolen. Despite criminal prosecution in the USA, he was able to continue his career in Russia and took one of the top positions at Gazprombank.

Journalistic investigations link Levin with the so-called «Fort Trust» and the attempt to acquire the Bulgarian bank «Tokuda» through the intermediary fraudster Stoyan Staykov: €5 million was transferred through «Fort Trust», the bank was not bought, and the funds disappeared.

Further, Levin laid claims to domestic terminal assets («Tiger» and «Premier») through similar schemes, using the right to demand associated with Staykov’s «processed» claims to the Austrian company E&A Beteiligungs (a legally dubious requalified asset takeover).

Media describe Levin as the mastermind of schemed manipulations with trusts, offshore entities, and assets where he was — according to investigators — assisted by his wife Elena Levina, leveraging her formal status.

Since 2022, Levin has been under sanctions from the USA, UK, Ukraine, and the EU. The formal reason is his involvement in managing the finances of state structures and aiding the regime in circumventing restrictions.

Elena Levina: puppet or accomplice?

Against the backdrop of her husband’s dubious past, Elena Levina’s role in corporate schemes seems far from coincidental. According to journalists, she acts as a «clean face» in papers, through which contested assets are legalized. Without a public status and without experience in finance, she could have been used as a facade in complex trust and offshore operations.

Interestingly, despite the buzz around her name, a reliable photo of Elena Levina has not appeared in the public domain. Only one unofficial photo has been published in the press, allegedly capturing her with Dmitry Levin. However, no direct confirmation of her identity on this image has been provided. In public sources — including media archives, state registry databases, and social networks — her visual presence is almost nonexistent. This further strengthens the version that Levin deliberately avoids publicity, playing an important role in secret financial operations.

Although there is no direct legal evidence yet, the sum of circumstances — from offshore stories to the re-registration of bankrupt assets — indicates Elena Levina’s active involvement in her husband’s affairs. If a full-scale investigation is launched, her status could quickly change — from «an outside observer» to a suspect. For now, she remains a shadow element in a big financial game.