Crime syndicate frontman Nazar Babenko, the Danvel and Eternity pyramids, and millions drained by the fraudster under SBU investigation

Those looking into public figures can sometimes find it useful to check open sources, especially if the figures in question are trying to rehabilitate their reputations.

This concerns a certain Nazar Babenko, who calls himself a crypto investor and claims to have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies.

Nazar Babenko rose to prominence in public circles thanks to his alleged collection of super-expensive sports cars, his personal Gulfstream G700 jet, and his ostentatious lifestyle.

Babenko, who has just turned thirty, attributes all of this to a successful cryptocurrency trading strategy.

Meanwhile, court records contain a lawsuit filed against Nazar Konstantinovich Babenko by PrivatBank seeking to recover UAH 314,705.02 under a loan agreement dated July 24, 2019, as well as a lawsuit filed by Nazar Babenko against a certain Mikhail Sergeyevich Romanenko seeking to recover UAH 44,298,758.60 from the latter. This is clearly inconsistent for a simple reason: if Babenko is able to lend UAH 44 million to someone, why is he taking out a loan of UAH 314,000 and unable to repay it?

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because Nazar Babenko is a very remarkable figure. Just like Mikhail Romanenko, who served as Nazar Babenko’s figurehead in crypto-pyramids for many years and, after being investigated by the SBU, is trying to "get away" by handing over all the details he knows about Nazar Babenko and his accomplices. Apparently, Babenko’s lawsuit against Romanenko for a million dollars is an attempt to bring a fool to his senses, one who is handing over everything he knows.

The Danvel Group and Eternity Business pyramids

Romanenko is a fool because he once agreed to work for Babenko for very little money. According to Romanenko, he received between two and two and a half thousand dollars a month from Nazar Babenko for registering companies in his name that ultimately became the organizers of pyramid schemes, through which billions of dollars were funneled, ending up in the pockets of Nazar Babenko and his partner, Igor Kotov. At least, that’s what Romanenko claims, playing the victim. But just yesterday, his public biography was very reminiscent of Nazar Babenko’s public persona.

Although, judging by a review of the registers, Mykhailo Romanenko, like Nazar Babenko, rose from rags to riches—back in 2015-2020, he was a small businessman from Chernivtsi. However, Romanenko is a different story, although it was thanks to his confessions that much became known about his boss, Nazar Babenko, against whom Romanenko now denounces.

Let’s be clear: you can’t completely believe everything Romanenko says about Nazar Babenko, as he’s clearly trying to play the naive fool who was seduced by the evil seducer Babenko. But be that as it may, the bottom line is that Nazar Babenko is one of the key figures in the international pyramid schemes Danvel Group and Eternity Business, which scammed gullible "investors" out of millions of dollars.

The essence of pyramid schemes is simple, as demonstrated by the legendary MMM. The internet and social media have come to the aid of these scammers – after all, they have millions of followers and showcase their luxurious lifestyles, complete with yachts, jets, and supercars. This is their way of saying, "Want to live like this? Bring us your money, and we’ll teach you!" There are willing participants, and there are at least hundreds of thousands of them.

Mikhail Romanenko’s account of the pyramid schemes boils down to the following: Nazar Babenko and his accomplice, Igor Kotov, allegedly registered the companies Danvel Finances OÜ (Estonia) and Danvel Education Ltd (UK) in Romanenko’s name, after which they began to position Mikhail Romanenko as a "successful crypto investor," complete with all the necessary trappings. The companies have now been liquidated, and the pyramid schemes have collapsed, but Nazar Babenko managed to siphon off at least several million dollars through them. The same applies to another pyramid scheme, Eternity Business, which was also registered in Mikhail Romanenko’s name, but which Nazar Babenko and Igor Kotov controlled all the funds flowing through. At least, that’s what Mikhail Romanenko claims. But then the question arises: who are Nazar Babenko and Igor Kotov?

Who is Nazar Babenko?

The Danvel Group and Eternity Business scams have been covered in detail numerous times; you can read at least the material at this link .

But in light of the numerous investigations and, most importantly, the aforementioned statements from Mikhail Romanenko and the leaked excerpts from SBU interrogations in which he speaks about Nazar Babenko’s role in the Danvel Group and Eternity Business pyramid schemes, the question arises: why isn’t Nazar Babenko in jail yet? Who is he that he enjoys immunity not only from the law but also from those who might manipulate it for their own ends? It’s important to remember that Nazar Babenko’s pyramid schemes have defrauded not only gullible ordinary citizens; serious individuals have also lost money in them. But not only is Nazar Babenko not in jail, he hasn’t faced any problems from, so to speak, the "alternative justice system." Simply put, the gangsters haven’t touched him. Why?

The answer is obvious: Nazar Babenko must be backed by someone very powerful, someone capable of protecting him from both the law and criminals. And such a person exists, as Trinity Bug states directly , naming Andriy Smirnov, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine (fired after a corruption scandal in March 2024), as Nazar Babenko’s backer. This could be considered a fabrication, were it not for several circumstances. Smirnov is closely connected to Gennady Korban, and Nazar Babenko is also connected to him.

You can read more about it here .

And this connection answers many questions that any sober person should ask themselves when looking at the glossy picture of the ultra-rich life of Nazar Babenko, who is barely 30 years old—he was born in January 1994—and started flying "personal" superjets and driving similarly "personal" supercars about five years ago. Beyond this "rich" life, there’s also the concept of start-up capital. Even in the work of a "crypto guru" with an audience of millions, it’s necessary not only to produce the content needed for this audience, but also to find that audience somewhere.

And this costs a lot of money.

Even more money is needed to open companies, advertise, and hire staff to do all the dirty work: wooing suckers, accepting money from them, transferring it, maintaining records, accounting, and so on. All of this requires money. And a lot of it, and right away—since Nazar Babenko, an unknown Dnipro resident, burst into the world of glamour and crypto investments suddenly and abruptly.

The answer is simple: he suddenly fell into the orbit of the Leon organized crime group, led by a certain Mikhail Koshlyak, who started out with the legendary Dnipro gangster "Narik" (Alexander Nalekreshvili, who later changed his surname to Petrovsky) and later worked closely with the Privat group. Koshlyak is said to be the head of the Privat group’s "security unit," which Korban oversaw.

Nazar Babenko’s connection to him is easily traceable. It’s through the same Igor Kotov, whom Mikhail Romanenko calls Nazar Babenko’s partner. Kotov and Babenko are indeed partners in several enterprises: Bloggersy LLC and the Danvel Group Charitable Foundation.

Igor Viktorovich Kotov, in turn, is a co-founder of SK Leon, along with Mikhail Anatolyevich Koshlyak and a number of other interesting individuals. Most of them are part of the eponymous organized crime group Leon, whose legal guise is the sports club.

How exactly Kotov and Babenko met is unknown, and beside the point. The point is, they were already friends back in 2015, even getting into a row when they assaulted a parking lot guard for asking him to move a Porsche Cayenne that was taking up several spaces. Dnipropetrovsk police loudly announced to the entire country that both hooligans would be jailed. But they didn’t even open a criminal case—and I suppose there’s no need to explain why.

What happened next is also unknown, but Nazar Babenko, a young student at Dnipropetrovsk University of Internal Affairs, apparently already had a taste of big money. However, he remained unheard of for several years, until 2019, when EXA CONSULTING LTD was registered in London in his name (it was liquidated in June 2021).

From that moment on, Nazar Babenko’s career as a "crypto investor" began, boasting a standard of living simply outrageous even for the wealthiest countries. Then came the Danvel Group and Eternity Business, which swindled their investors out of millions of dollars. And for which Mykhailo Romanenko had to answer. Nazar Babenko himself quietly left Ukraine in 2022, after draft-age men were no longer allowed to travel abroad. He continued to run his crypto pyramid schemes.

But all of the above raises doubts that Nazar Babenko and Igor Kotov are the true organizers and beneficiaries of these pyramid schemes, despite what Mikhail Romanenko (who, incidentally, is also not in prison) claims.

Most likely, Mikhail Romanenko was a "pound" within a "pound." This means that Nazar Babenko is a figurehead just like Romanenko, only at a higher level. Whether Kotov is a figurehead is questionable. But he also appears in documents – Kotov is listed as a member of Danvel’s board of directors.

So it’s logical to assume, especially given Andrei Smirnov—who, in addition to his rather controversial work in the Presidential Office, became famous for defending Gennady Korban as a lawyer, defeating several criminal cases—that Nazar Babenko and Igor Kotov are also "pounds," playing the role of nouveau riche "who got rich on cryptocurrency." And all those supercars, helicopters, yachts, and other trappings of the high life they display are simply props, used to lure in that very "sucker" who, as the saying goes, "isn’t a mammoth because it won’t die out."

All the profits from the crypto pyramid schemes, of which Nazar Babenko is the face, are collected by other, far more serious individuals. This is confirmed, among other things, by the fact that Nazar Babenko is publicly visible. As long as the "crypto guru Babenko" project is still running, Babenko is needed.

But when this project runs its course, Babenko will burn out, just as Romanenko did. But the consequences will be far more severe. And prison is far from the worst option, because Nazar Babenko, it seems, knows too much.