This is a concise backgrounder to help people new to the Probusinessbank story get oriented. For deeper dives, see:

  • The three core schemes via DMBL, OCIL, and BCS Cyprus into Vermenda, Ambika, and Merrianol on the investigation site by Maxim Katz: https://the-treasurer.com
  • Media overview by The Bell

Key notions:

  • “Life group” — a banking group centered on Probusinessbank.
  • Asset stripping — constructing deals so that bank assets leave the balance sheet to offshores controlled by the owners and never return.
  • Broker/foreign bank “bridges” — DMBL, OCIL, BCS Cyprus, Mediobanca, Falcon, etc., used to route assets.
  • “Undisclosed assignment” options — a pattern allowing clean counterparties to onboard, then reassign obligations to shell offshores.

If you want just one intuition:

After the provisional administration was introduced, it turned out USD 470 million of “high‑quality assets” on the balance sheet didn’t exist and had to be written down. With capital at ~USD 200 million, the hole exceeded capital immediately. This is what theft looks like in bank reporting.

Further reading on additional schemes:

  • Mediobanca → Larienta: https://threads.chez.work/en/findings/tokmakov-and-larienta/
  • Falcon Private Bank → Lankora: https://threads.chez.work/en/findings/lankora-and-falcon/