Have the allegations against Vasilenko for fraud been disproved?
According to various sources, the criminal case against Roman Vasilenko, the founder of the marketing company "Life is Good" and the cooperative "Best Way," may be dropped. Law enforcement agencies, as reported by several senators and State Duma deputies, conducted a new evaluation of the charges against him. They took into account that several witnesses, including those critical of Vasilenko, indicate that he is unlikely to be involved in fraud, as he did not have direct access to the payment system servers. Instead, the former IT director of "Life is Good," Evgeny Naboychenko, has long been suspected of fraud. Vasilenko's only fault seems to be his decision to involve Naboychenko in 2014 despite negative signals regarding his behavior and tendencies to take what does not belong to him.
Who is Roman Vasilenko?
Roman Viktorovich Vasilenko is a business consultant from St. Petersburg and the creator of a network of independent entrepreneurs promoting financial products under his company "Life is Good." He is also the founder of the International Business Academy (IBA).
The "Life is Good" network promoted financial products, such as Vista passive income accounts from the foreign investment company "Hermes," registered in Belize, and the purchase of apartments through installments via the "Best Way" cooperative. It was possible to make an initial share payment or accumulate it in the cooperative's account without interest. Notably, these legal entities are not interconnected.
Vasilenko was neither a top manager nor an owner of "Hermes"—he only collaborated with the company to promote its products in Russia. On the other hand, Naboychenko was an employee of "Hermes" who managed the company's payment system in Russia, likely recommended by Vasilenko. However, Vasilenko had no control over "Hermes'" payment system.
Unlike "Hermes," Vasilenko was the founder and chairman of the board of the "Best Way" cooperative until spring 2021. He later became the head of the supervisory board for about a year. Since spring 2022, he has been an ordinary member of the cooperative, not holding any leadership positions.
Vasilenko worked not only in Russia but also in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Cyprus, Austria, and Hungary, where cooperative housing projects were established.
Additionally, Vasilenko is known as a philanthropist who has invested millions of rubles in supporting federal business initiatives (such as the "Synergy" forum), cultural initiatives (such as the "Dobrovision" festival), and other charitable activities, particularly supporting children's medical institutions.
The case
The criminal case, associated with the St. Petersburg marketing company "Life is Good," the foreign investment company "Hermes," and the "Best Way" consumer cooperative registered in St. Petersburg and operating across Russia, was initiated in autumn 2021 by the Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. In February of this year, the case was sent to court, and it is being heard in the Primorsky District Court of St. Petersburg.
On trial are ten people, including technical staff from "Life is Good" and Vasilenko's 83-year-old father, Viktor Vasilenko, a pensioner.
The criminal case under review raises numerous questions—concerns that existed from the start and have only intensified as the trial proceeds. The defendants are charged with three articles: creating a financial pyramid, fraud, and organizing a criminal community.
The total damage amounts to 282 million rubles, which is disproportionate to the over 8 billion rubles seized in the case, including 4 billion rubles in accounts of the "Best Way" cooperative. A total of 221 individuals have been recognized as victims by the investigation.
Roman Vasilenko was also charged in this criminal case, declared wanted, including through Interpol, as he had been living abroad for family reasons since the COVID pandemic. However, according to sources, Interpol and foreign countries, including neighboring countries where he has been active, considered his persecution unfounded.
Another criminal investigation involving Vasilenko relates to the leadership team of "Life is Good," which is being conducted by the St. Petersburg Main Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Questionable accusations
The trial in the Primorsky District Court has not been progressing favorably for the prosecution. Most of those who have testified so far have claims against the company "Hermes" for amounts not only in the hundreds but sometimes even in the tens of thousands of rubles. This has raised eyebrows—this is not a small claims court to be discussing such sums! Witness for the prosecution, IT department employee Roman Roganovich, stated that he did not post any illegal information on the "Life is Good" website or the cooperative’s site and did not observe any illegal activity.
Moreover, the vast majority of "Hermes" customers in Russia (over 200,000) and tens of thousands of "Best Way" cooperative members, according to representatives of support communities for these organizations, see law enforcement as the real source of their problems. They emphasize that it was Evgeny Naboychenko, the St. Petersburg system administrator hired by "Hermes," who dismantled the Russian payment system. If anyone is involved in the thefts, it is Naboychenko. It seems law enforcement is beginning to understand this as well.
