Alexander Smirnov was a key source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into Hunter Biden’s role at the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma. The grand jury indictments allege that he fabricated the story and also revealed his ties to the cryptocurrency industry.
The indictments detail how one of Smirnov’s associates, identified as “Associate 2,” was “an American who owned a cryptocurrency business.” Smirnov allegedly introduced this associate to Burisma to see if he was interested in using their crypto product. Unfortunately for this associate, “Burisma representatives were not interested.”
Additionally, the document details how another associate, Associate 1, “also works for” someone “who is the founder/CEO of the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology business.”
The grand jury documents do not explicitly reveal the identities of these crypto industry executives or the nature of these blockchain companies, but there is some evidence of Smirnov’s previous work in the industry that could provide a clue.
Press releases from 2017 and 2018 describe a product called “LH-Crypto”, promoted by a certain Alexander Smirnov. This product was launched in collaboration with Larson & Holzan exchange broker that made sure to promote cryptocurrency to its clients.
LH-Crypto was an initial coin offering (ICO) that intended to offer margin trading for cryptocurrency traders, with the company’s CEO George Pavloff describing the target market for this token as “crypto traders who they want to trade more than just cryptographic instruments.”
The token listed several prominent advisors, including Yan Art, who is described as the “vice president of the Association of Russian Banks.”
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Smirnov, together with Antonis Lapos of Larson & Holz, hit the road to promote the ICO, making appearances in Milan, Lugano, Zurich, Geneva and Munich. He was also promoted in Russia, with Pavloff holding meetings in Moscow to promote him. Additionally, Larson & Holz has a Russian-language YouTube channel where it promotes the ICO.
LH-Crypto’s corporate structure is confusing. The website describes a contact address in Hong Kong, however, an examination of Hong Kong company records reveals that Larson & Holz IT Limited was disbanded in 2015. LH-Crypto website archives describe several other entities used for this project, including “Larson and Holz IT Ltd” entities registered in the Marshall Islands and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
This page also lists ‘Larson and Holz IT LP’ registered in the UK. A Companies House examination shows the company has been renamed Astra Global LP and lists a person with significant control, Kirill Kuzin, listing an address in St Petersburg.
Additionally, the “Registry of Belize International Trading Companies Deregistered in 2019” also includes “Larson & Holz IT Limited.”
The ICO ended in February 2018 and apparently rallied over $10 million.
The websites of Larson & Holz and LH-Crypto are no longer available and the project appears completely abandoned, joining the long list of ICOs that never achieved their goals and were run by people possibly accused of crimes.
