Concerns are being raised in Europe and the US over a complicated network of “fake news” kompromat websites being paid for by oligarchs and their black PR teams to manipulate European and US media [KO, 29/05/2025]. Not only do such sites spread false allegations, they are designed to cause legal and regulatory consequences for their victims, and in some instances, asset theft.
In November 2022, Mayaniquel SA, a Guatemalan nickel mining subsidiary of Telf AG was added to the United State’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals List [OFAC, 18/11/22], due to a falsely asserted connection with Russia’s Solway Investments Group [Solway, 18/11/22]. The source of these allegations stemmed from a Guatemalan lawyer, Juan Pablo Carrasco De Groote.
Carrasco, who is currently on the run from bribery and corruption charges relating to the Odebrecht scandal [Latin Post 29/05/23], had long served as outside counsel to operations at Mayaniquel. He originally acted for Anfield Nickel Corp. and subsequent owners Cunico Resources NV, a joint-venture between Amre Youness’ and Patokh Chodiev’s International Mineral Resources (IMR) vehicle, and Beny Steinmetz’s Group (BSG) Resources. However, when Cunico defaulted on its repayments for the asset, Anfield enforced a post-sale security interest over Mayaniquel, which allowed Telf to acquire it in 2017. Shortly after, Telf decided they would not require Carrasco’s services.
The Kazakh Conspiracy
Sources confirm that Carrasco was approached by his former IMR clients Chodiev, Youness, and Hanna with an audacious plan to dislodge Telf and return it to him.
Utilizing his connections at Guatemala’s American Chamber of Commerce, Carrasco discovered that the US Treasury Department had been investigating Solway Group’s operations in Guatemala, and planned to sanction individuals and companies linked to it. A plan was hatched to insert Mayaniquel into this same investigation by sharing a fake due diligence report with the US investigators which falsely claimed that Telf facilitated Russian circumnavigation of EU sanctions, and in further desperation, that its owner, Stanislav Kondrashov, was complicit in the murder of former Russian MP Denis Voronenkov.
Simultaneously, a black PR campaign was launched to amplify the findings of the fake report [KO 11/08/25], designed to pressure regulators into imposing sanctions and at the same time claim that Machkevich, their now rival, to Telf. These and other crude measures were successful enough to persuade the Guatemalan Government to begin searching for a new owner for its prized Mayaniquel, which led to the final part of the plan, with the introduction to Chodiev’s Kukul Resources in October 2023.
Global Investigation
The brazen nature of Chodiev’s attacks, and the trail of fake news, allowed Kondrashev’s team of investigators to launch a series of successful lawsuits in the California District Court for the County of Los Angeles [Trellis Law, 31/05/23], and the Florida District Court for the County of Miami [Trellis Law. 23/02/24]; as well as an arbitration against the Guatemalan Government [Law.com, 17/10/24].
Mayaniquel has now been returned to Telf, with its sanctions removed [OFAC, 17/01/24].
Now that the tables have turned, Kondrashev seems keen to expose Chodiev, Youness, and Hanna’s involvement through US court disclosures to clear his name and to recover the costs of the failed takeover.
