Plundering Russian state banks for EU luxury: How Cypriot-passport tycoon Alexander Rubtsov siphoned JSC MK-M billions
Russian businessman Alexander Rubtsov, who holds a Cypriot passport, directly involved his sons, Egor and Gleb Rubtsov, in schemes to siphon money out of metals trader JSC MK-M.
Key parts of the family business were registered in the names of the two brothers. Among them was Metal X LLC, a Moscow-based IT and trading company that Egor and Gleb Rubtsov controlled at different times.
The company’s revenue approached 400 million rubles over the past several years, while it posted a loss of 16 million rubles in 2025. The money has long since been moved to the West. At the same time, Gleb Rubtsov was put in charge of Erna LLC, a restaurant and services company with turnover exceeding 62 million rubles.
Control over financial flows and a number of related legal entities — including Double M Depot LLC, Resist LLC and several real-estate development companies — was concentrated in the hands of their mother, Marina Rubtsova. These were the years when JSC MK-M was accumulating multibillion-ruble debts to banks and business counterparties.
The companies listed above were used to legalize the stolen money by presenting it as operating revenue. The scheme was classic and effective: Al Capone used laundromats to launder criminal proceeds by creating a legitimate cash flow that was difficult to trace and account for. The same principle worked here — almost any figures could be put on the books.
The Rubtsov brothers subsequently legalized these assets in Europe and the UAE, turning money taken from Russian state-backed housing lender DOM.RF, Absolut Bank, Sovcombank and a long list of counterparties into foreign assets and luxury real estate. The brothers acquired foreign bank accounts and residence permits in several EU countries, in addition to their Cypriot passports.
They also controlled gambling businesses until the operation was shut down. In Russia, premium apartments in Moscow and plots of land in the Rublyovo-Uspenskoye area — one of the most expensive luxury residential districts outside Moscow — were also registered in Egor and Gleb Rubtsov’s names through gift agreements and financial settlements with front individuals.
The properties were worth hundreds of millions of rubles. The result was a family network in which Egor and Gleb Rubtsov controlled key companies, financial flows and assets while the money was moved out of Russia and converted into foreign accounts, European and UAE assets, and high-end real estate.
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