A Russian national was arrested last year in the northern part of Cyprus and extradited to Russia via Turkey on fraud charges
By the time Russian authorities launched a fraud case against Alexander Delis in relation to Kvartstroy Holdings – real-estate development company he co-owned and managed – he co-owned a dozen Cyprus companies.
For over a decade, at least eight of these Cypriot companies operated within a network associated with Delis, and were linked to the Kvartstroy group, forming part of its offshore holding and financing structure.
Kvartstroy was involved in a criminal case in Russia, in which investigators alleged that its management misappropriated approximately 2.4 billion rubles (25.8 million euros) from investors.
Six of the companies were still active in the Republic of Cyprus when Delis was reportedly arrested in April 2025 in Kyrenia, in the northern part of Cyprus, on a warrant that was reportedly issued on August 2017. Today, three of these companies have been dissolved and three remain active.
It’s not clear when Delis moved to north Cyprus, but his name is recorded in an vehicle accident report in Kyrenia in 2019. The Turkish Cypriot police told the court that he had been in northern Cyprus since September 2017, according to press reports, following him being placed on Russia’s Federal Wanted List in August.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs released video images of a handcuffed Delis being led to a plane at the Istanbul Airport in July 2025.
The north – which is not recognized internationally except by Turkey, and remains largely outside the international legal and financial systems – has a reputation as a haven for fugitives. The 2025 Global Organized Crime Index described the breakaway territory under Turkish control as “a refuge for fugitives, tax evaders and other criminals evading prosecution in their home countries.”
Cypriot international criminal Lawyer Konstantina Zivla, who specialises in international police cooperation, told CIReN that there is “a jurisdictional void” for fugitives, produced by legal non-recognition in the northern part of Cyprus.
As an unrecognised entity, northern Cyprus “cannot conclude formal extradition treaties or mutual legal assistance agreements, instruments which ordinarily facilitate both the identification and surrender of fugitives,” Ms. Zivla said.
“Moreover, non-recognition results in a complete absence of institutionalised cooperation. There is no structured data exchange, no enforceable requests, and no formalised channels through which intelligence can be operationalised. Even when credible information exists regarding a fugitive’s presence, it cannot be translated into lawful enforcement action through conventional mechanisms.”
These systemic deficiencies “operate to the advantage of fugitives,” Ms. Zivla explained, noting that in the absence of legal frameworks, “enforcement is displaced into the realm of politics and diplomacy. Efforts to locate or secure the return of fugitives must typically be channelled through Turkey. This introduces elements of discretion, selectivity, and inconsistency into processes that, in functioning legal systems, are governed by predictability and rule-based standards.”
Russian Real Estate
Kvartstroy Holding, founded in 2002, was a major developer of real estate and construction in Russia, with a particular focus on the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd regions, as well as Almaty in Kazakhstan. The group was known for large-scale residential complexes, including Novinki Smart City, Kvartal Evropeyskiy (European Quarter) and Na Goncharova in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where some of its legal troubles originated.
As of December 2014, the Kvartstroy group, through affiliated entities, was undertaking residential and business projects of 58 residential buildings and three residential complexes ranging from economy to more upscale in the Russian cities of Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. According to company documents, the residential building in Saint Petersburg offered high-end apartments, including two luxury penthouses with rooftop terraces in a historic part of the city.
The demise of the group began in 2017 through 2019, with several of the companies declaring bankruptcy, and its senior management facing accusations of large-scale fraud and embezzlement.
At least three Cyprus-registered companies, Breboro Holdings Co. Limited, Goldpass Holdings Limited, and Conlu Ltd, were part of the Kvartstroy corporate structure, acting primarily as holding or investment entities, while their Russian subsidiaries carried out property development activities in Russia. Delis co-owned these companies via Conlu Ltd with business partner Pavel Vlasyuk, who also appeared on the Russian Federal Wanted List in August 2017.
The Cyprus-registered company Breboro Holdings Co. Limited acted as a holding and financing entity controlling a large group of subsidiaries in Russia and offshore jurisdictions. These subsidiaries included companies involved in Kvartstroy real estate development and construction activities, as well as entities performing financing and investment functions.
A number of these Russian companies have since become insolvent or have incomplete ownership records, while several remain owned by Cyprus-based Verluscono Ventures Limited, which previously formed part of the Breboro group structure. Breboro financial statements show that the group of companies received loans from Russian banks for real estate projects.
Breboro Holdings, which is still active according to the Cyprus registry, is owned by the British Virgin Islands-registered Kvartstroy Investments Limited and the Cyprus-registered Conlu Limited, both ultimately owned by Delis and Vlasyuk.
Igor Turkin, a director in Breboro and several other Delis companies, was also on the Russian Federal Wanted List since 2017, but died last year.
Business partner Alexander Baigushev, whose name was also listed in Cyprus company records alongside Delis, also appears on Russia’s wanted list on related charges.
Questions for Baigushev, Vlasyuk and Delis sent to their service providers went unanswered.
The Unit for Combating Money Laundering and Financial Intelligence Unit of Cyprus (MOKAS) told CIReN that Delis and the companies connected to him did not appear in any suspicious transaction reports submitted to MOKAS by obliged entities. These would include corporate service providers and financial institutions.
“Cyprus is required by EU AML directives to ensure transparency of beneficial ownership and to cooperate with international authorities in cases of fraud,” including providing “full documentation, the so-called corporate trails,” economist Ioannis Tirkides told CIReN.
“While the division of the island remains a vulnerability, to defend its reputation and strengthen its brand, Cyprus needs to demonstrate that it can go beyond technical compliance. Cyprus needs to be more preventative than reactive and hold professional gatekeepers such as lawyers and trustees, who might be the enablers, strictly accountable,” he added.
Cyprus police, who would be responsible for any criminal investigation and cooperation with foreign law enforcement, did not reply to questions in time for publication.
The police in the northern part of Cyprus directed CIReN to the department responsible for foreign affairs, which did not respond to questions until the time of publication.
In April 2025, a Moscow District court reportedly found three individuals linked to Kvartstroy companies guilty of abuse of office and embezzlement of over 2.4 billion rubles (around 25.8 million EUR) between 2012 and 2017.
Research support by Misha Gagarin, OCCRP