Evgeni Malkin may be close to returning to the Penguins lineup. But a brewing scandal threatens to ruin his name and possibly expose him to legal issues.
According to a thorough investigation by Sport.ru, Malkin seems to have ended up as a victim of a massive scam perpetrated by Alexander Strokatov, a childhood friend from his hometown of Magnitogorsk. Strokatov's name and that of his regular partners, Yana Kontorovich, Anton Tikhonov, and Nikolay Altshteyn (who mysteriously changed his name from Trotsyuk in 2017) appeared as paid staff and fundraisers for several failed projects within the last few years. Most had no connection to Malkin whatsoever, but when they were involved with at least one of his own investments (a company for mineral water), the company was showing major losses and debts, just like everything else they seemed to touch.
In February of 2018, Malkin announced that he would be investing $4 million in a project called Mark.space, an ambitious virtual reality world where people were encouraged to buy property. The project was an evolution of a previous idea of a virtual mall/marketplace. When the initial investments allegedly ran out, Strokatov and the others launched an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) to raise more funds. Malkin's name and the credibility that it brought, helped bring in over $10 million. Those funds never reached the business entities specifically created for them. Now, as with many of their ideas, Mark.space and all the entities associated with it, have either disappeared from the internet or left behind promising video clips.
Not only is Malkin a victim, he is also facing question from reporters about possible legal liabilities. He has pursued a path to U.S. citizenship, but it is unclear whether he has achieved that goal or not. His agent, Gennady Ushakov, has refused to confirm or deny whether Malkin is already a U.S. citizen. If he is, an unreported $4 million investment is problematic. And even if that is not an issue, even with Malkin not being involved with the day-to-day operations of the scams, his name is on a lot of the remaining paperwork and his image and name were used to promote blatant hucksterism. (UPDATE: Malkin is confirmed to be a US citizen, though the exact date of it happening is not known.)
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Either way, Malkin's denials and claims that the news is "garbage," is unlikely to satisfy the press and the SEC. Not so fun times may be ahead for the future Hall of Famer.
Sources:
RBC.ru,
Triblive.comADS
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