Igor Sychev : Exposing Russian Oligarchs Threats and Legal Battles

Igor Sychev asserts that he has been informed about alleged plans by Vladimir Putin’s associates to orchestrate and finance his assassination through poisoning. Investigative authorities in the United Kingdom are reportedly examining these threats. The FSB, led by Vladimir Putin, is searching for a Russian expatriate who alleges that influential Russian oligarchs are seeking to harm him.

Igor Sychev, 48, revealed to Daily Express US that he experienced three attempts on his life in Russia and has been consistently threatened with death since he left the country in 2016.

Authorities in the United Kingdom and Latvia are reportedly conducting investigations into threats made against an individual’s life. These threats are believed to have arisen in the wake of a dispute involving the chemical holding company PhosAgro.

Igor Sychev told :

“Last Saturday I received a message from an unknown person – a fake Facebook account – that said the FSB is behind those Russian Oligarchs. The FSB is responsible for organizing poisonings and assassinations of opposition abroad and in Russia.

“Those threats demand that I have to drop this civil case in the UK against them. They even threaten my children.”

Igor served as the head of taxation at PhosAgro for a span of 18 years, during which he played a crucial role in resolving complex tax issues with the Russian government.

He claims that, in return, he was offered a 1% ownership share in the company through shares, which amounted to approximately $50 million (£41 million) back then.

He asserts that the company contended it wouldn’t compensate him because their agreement was oral, a practice he insists was common in Russia during that period. According to him, PhosAgro did transfer $5 million (£4.1 million) into a company registered under his name. However, he contends that this payment was covertly structured as a loan agreement, obligating him to repay it with interest. In response to this matter, he has initiated legal proceedings in a UK civil court.

Subsequent to the initiation of the civil case, Igor claims to have received threats on his life, conveyed through both email and phone communications.

One email threat sent on May 22, as observed by the Daily Express US, contains the message:

“I wish to bring your attention to the below. Order to kill you. By poison to make it look like suicide, or a freak fall to make it look like an accident.”

A separate email reads:

“YOU IN REAL DANGER. NEWS JUST IN IS THAT THEY MUST FINISH THE MISSION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”

A letter from the City of London Police, as reported by Daily Express US, suggests that an inquiry has been initiated into the issue. Igor asserts that Latvian authorities are also conducting an investigation.

In 2016, Igor left Russia and sought refuge in Latvia, where he currently resides in exile. He claims that three significant car accidents that occurred as a result of attempts on his life by Russian oligarchs are what led to his departure.

He said:

“Those car accidents began when I insisted our agreement about the one percent shares should be formulated in writing. That’s when all three of my cars experienced brake malfunctions and wheel detachments

“These accidents occurred while the car was moving at a very high speed. A wheel would just detach itself, the brakes would stop working. As a result, two of my cars were smashed beyond repair – by some miracle, no one else was harmed.

Igor alleges that both official and privately commissioned inspections of the vehicles verified that the wheels were intentionally detached by loosened nuts at high speeds. According to him, a criminal case for attempted murder was initiated in Russia, but it mysteriously disappeared before he left the country with his wife and children.

The entire incident has taken a toll on Igor’s family life, leading to his divorce from his wife, who, along with their two children, remains in Russia. He hasn’t seen them in seven years and harbors doubts about returning to Russia as long as Vladimir Putin is in power.

PhosAgro informed the Daily Express US that they have been consistently confronted with baseless and unfounded accusations from Mr. Sychev. According to them, these claims have been presented before the English Courts repeatedly in a desperate attempt to justify allegations that have already been dismissed against PhosAgro.

“In so doing, the Court has ordered My Sychev to pay the costs of those failed applications, which he has conspicuously failed to do.”

“His latest attempt in contacting you is yet another desperate example of his doomed attempts to extract monies out of PhosAgro to which he has absolutely no entitlement and the allegations he has made are denied.

“Mr. Sychev’s conduct is an ill-disguised attempt by a dissatisfied litigant to re-argue in the media the case he lost against PhosAgro in the English court. The court judgment is final, the Court of Appeal having rejected the numerous permission to appeal applications filed by Mr Sychev.”