Questions for Maria Pevchikh

❗️ Contrary to Volkov’s words, Zheleznyak was not a technical functionary of FBK; he performed managerial and treasury functions.

On October 6, 2022, a letter was drawn up under the signature of Anti-Corruption Foundation Vice President Aleksandr Zheleznyak, confirming the allocation of a grant of 20 thousand dollars to RADR (Russian America For Democracy In Russia).

After the letter was received by US government authorities, RADR was promptly registered as a non-profit organization exempt from income tax (a 501(c)(3) organization). Such organizations are called charitable organizations in the broad sense.

The documents were obtained from a US citizen who wished to remain anonymous and who sent requests regarding FBK’s (ACF’s) activities to the US tax department as a conscientious taxpayer.

Fragment of RADR’s letter:

💬We request expedited processing of our Form 1023 Application for Recognition of Exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Although Russian America for Democracy in Russia Inc. is a new organization, we have attracted significant interest from one potential donor. However, the donor will not remit the contribution until we provide a receipt of our 501(c)(3) exemption. If it is not received within one month by 10/06/2022, the grant funds will be canceled and we will have to wait for the next grant cycle to apply. The Anti-Corruption Foundation has committed to provide Russian America for Democracy in Russia Inc. a donation of $20,000, which will allow the organization to begin work and help support fundraising efforts for several months. Without this initial donation, our organization will not have sufficient funding to start our charitable endeavors.💬

Fragment of FBK’s letter:

💬This letter confirms that our organization has allocated a grant in the amount of twenty thousand US dollars ($20,000.00) to Russian America for Democracy in Russia Inc. However, we require proof that the organization has obtained a 501c3 tax exemption certificate in order for us to issue the funds. If we do not receive documentary confirmation of the 501c3 tax exemption by 11/6/2022, the grant will be redirected, and Russian America for Democracy in Russia Inc. will lose the opportunity to receive funding for our 2023 grant cycle. We are pleased with our new partnership with Russian America for Democracy in Russia. Once this process is expedited, Russian America for Democracy in Russia will be able to continue implementing its valuable programs and services.💬

The letter describes the grant allocation as a fait accompli.

For what exact reason FBK, in the person of Zheleznyak, decided to allocate a grant to RADR, for what purposes, by whose decision and in whose interests — is unknown. However, no such grant exists in FBK’s and RADR’s Form 990 reports, which leads to the assumption of a collusion to obtain for RADR a preferential status in the United States.

➡️ We add that Zheleznyak cooperates not only with FBK (ACF), but also with RADR itself: on the official website democracy4russia.org there is a list of RADR communities in US cities with links to their social media. The administrator of the RADR Boston community page is Aleksandr Zheleznyak himself.

At the same time, in an interview with Yuri Dud, Leonid Volkov asserted that Zheleznyak performed purely technical functions for FBK.

Let us recall that the president of RADR is Dmitry Valuev who, according to his social networks, worked at Free Russia until mid–2023. Free Russia Foundation’s CEO is Nadezhda Valueva — Dmitry’s spouse.

You are acting unethically and unprofessionally by asserting the deliberate falsity of information about the grant without presenting any facts of such deliberate falsity. This is not the work of professional journalists.

Professional journalists would have looked at our social media and seen that in 2023 we actively cooperated with FBK to jointly organize appearances by FBK leaders in the United States. The funds reserved for RADR were invested in organizing meetings for RADR communities and reserving venues. There is no deception of the IRS, corruption, or malice in our actions.

But there is malice in your unfounded accusations.

January 2023 Denver

January 2023 San Francisco

January 2023 Washington

March 2023 Miami

September 2023 New York

September 2023 Washington

❗️ The US-based NGO RADR associated with FBK threatens with “foreign agent” status over interest in its reporting.

Let us recall that yesterday, May 21, Sota published two documents dated October 2022. In one, FBK Vice President and former head of Probusinessbank Aleksandr Zheleznyak requested tax benefits for the US diaspora NGO RADR (Russian America for Democracy in Russia), and in the other RADR itself confirmed the need to obtain those tax benefits in order to receive the grant.

In the end, in the course of a long discussion on Twitter, RADR head Dmitry Valuev confirmed the authenticity of the documents: “The status (tax benefits) was conditioned by our application and description of activities, not by the grant. The grant was mentioned as a reason to expedite the review of the application. The money mentioned in the grant was decided to be reformatted and spent on organizing meetings for our communities.”

Thus, it turned out that, as Sota indicated, in reality FBK (ACF) did not transfer the $20,000 grant to RADR, but facilitated their obtaining tax benefits. It is noteworthy that Zheleznyak is also a RADR coordinator in Boston.

Moreover, it turned out that FBK planned a grant for RADR for meetings with FBK itself.

One US citizen last night attempted to obtain more detailed RADR reporting: a full financial report, charter, and list of leadership. Under US law, any citizen has the right to request such documents as the basis for a legal entity’s tax benefits.

Nevertheless, instead of providing the documents, RADR first stated that it is an “undesirable organization” in the Russian Federation and therefore considers providing reporting unsafe, and subsequently moved on to indirect threats:

“…why do you need this information in particular? Do you know Chez (the investigator’s handle on Twitter) or do you have any relation to the SOTA project? Also, are you aware of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires US citizens to register if they act on behalf of a foreign person or organization?”

In addition, RADR sent the US citizen requesting documents a screenshot of his Facebook page with a demand to confirm whether it belongs to him.

The correspondence ended with the following message from RADR:

“Your lack of response clearly indicates that you are familiar with Chez and are acting on his behalf.” (The correspondence is at Sota’s disposal.)

Thus, according to Valuev’s statement, FBK, which collected donations from Russians from August 2021 to March 2022 — already after being recognized as an extremist organization — spent $20,000 on six meetings with Leonid Volkov, Maria Pevchikh, and Ivan Zhdanov in various US cities in 2023.

We add that Zheleznyak’s letter about RADR on behalf of FBK (ACF) appeared almost simultaneously with Volkov’s letter on behalf of FBK requesting the lifting of sanctions from Mikhail Fridman.

In the photo:

1 – Dmitry Valuev;

2 – Leonid Volkov;

3 – Sergei Leontyev;

4 – Aleksandr Zheleznyak.