Fraud under Pavel Durov’s wing: how Roman Novak ran multi-million dollar scams using the Telegram brand
Roman Novak (also known as Yavorsky and Tsaryov), a native of St. Petersburg, was convicted in Russia in 2020 on large-scale fraud charges (Part 4, Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced to six years in a penal colony.
After his release, he relocated to Dubai, where he began presenting himself as a representative of Telegram’s top management. He claimed to be a “board member” and a “deputy” to Ilya Perekopsky, and he referenced supposed close personal ties with Telegram founder Pavel Durov — insisting they had known each other since university and shared the same social circle.
In Dubai, Novak offered wealthy investors “exclusive opportunities”: Telegram bonds “at a pre-IPO discount,” TON tokens at 30–50% below market price with a three-year lock-up, and fixed-income participation in TON nodes. The minimum investment threshold started at $1 million. Larger clients were offered payment plans, and smaller ones were encouraged to join pooled investments. To appear credible, Novak used fabricated screenshots, simulated audit documents, and stories about connections to influential families in the UAE.
According to victims, his investors included figures from Russia’s security apparatus — among them Ivan Tkachov, the former head of the FSB’s Directorate “K.” Investments were supposed to “unlock” in 2025, but when investors attempted withdrawals, they discovered the tokens did not exist.
One victim, who claims losses of $2 million, said he met Novak through crypto-exchange circles, where Novak posed as a “Telegram broker.” Novak also promoted fintopio.com as a “replacement for Telegram Wallet,” claiming the project had backing from the Rotenberg family. As victims recount, Novak’s repeated assertions that he communicated personally with Durov helped build trust.
Open sources also mention a Telegram channel, ghost_in_the_block, which published materials about fraud schemes linked to the TON ecosystem and Novak’s activities. The channel was later blocked. Novak, victims say, did not hide the links between his accounts, frequently using the NVK (novak) branding.
On November 7, Roman Novak and his wife were found dead in the United Arab Emirates. The circumstances of their deaths remain undisclosed. The story of the multimillion-dollar “Telegram investments” thus ended in tragedy — leaving investors without their money and with many questions that may never be answered.
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