An elite unit of Portugal’s Public Prosecutor’s Workplace is taking on a cash laundering probe into Elvira Gavrilova Paterson, the Ukrainian producer of an upcoming Kevin Spacey movie and affiliate of accused crypto fraudster Vladimir Okhotnikov, whose actions have been exposed by the Worldwide Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Coin Laundry investigation.
The Central Division of Investigation and Penal Motion, which handles complicated crimes, will assume management of the prison inquiry launched final yr after two Portuguese banks flagged uncommon monetary actions in Gavrilova’s accounts, together with a money deposit of about $312,000, according to ICIJ partner Expresso.
ICIJ discovered that, in 2024 and 2025, Gavrilova, via her public relations agency Elledgy Media, organized star-studded occasions all over the world to promote Okhotnikov’s start-ups — a sequence of allegedly fraudulent crypto funding schemes which have acquired round $1 billion from tens of millions of unsuspecting traders. She is presently primarily based in Portugal.
Okhotnikov, a Russian crypto entrepreneur who co-produced, co-wrote and starred in Spacey’s movie, “Holiguards Saga — The Portal of Power,” resides within the United Arab Emirates, the place he fled whereas going through prison prices from U.S. and Georgian authorities.
In 2023, U.S. prosecutors indicted him for allegedly utilizing a rigged cryptocurrency funding platform known as Forsage to steal at the least $340 million from traders, as a part of a Ponzi and pyramid scheme. The next yr, a courtroom in Tbilisi, Georgia, sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in jail for laundering $1.1 million in proceeds from the fraud.
ICIJ discovered that Okhotnikov’s newest platform, Meta Whale, carefully resembles Forsage — each depend on sensible contracts, that are self-executing agreements written in code and saved on digital ledgers referred to as blockchains. Whereas Okhotnikov claimed that the know-how was absolutely clear, the contracts underpinning his platforms may very well be used to dupe traders, in accordance to specialists.
ICIJ and media companions examined Okhotnikov’s enterprise dealings as a part of The Coin Laundry, an investigation into how the crypto trade has profited from illicit monetary flows whereas leaving most of these harmed within the course of with out recourse.
Following ICIJ’s investigation, Meta Whale has attracted scrutiny from authorities in a number of international locations.
In December, Vietnam’s cybersecurity police and different legislation enforcement items shut down Meta Whale’s native operations and arrested three promoters for allegedly facilitating an unlawful multi-level advertising and marketing scheme, in accordance to a statement from the general public safety ministry. The promoters informed the police that they earned commissions primarily from recruiting new members, the ministry stated. Authorities discovered that about 2,000 customers throughout the nation had invested a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} within the scheme.
Monetary providers regulators in Australia and Canada have additionally warned the general public in opposition to investing in Meta Whale.
Okhotnikov, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, didn’t reply to ICIJ’s requests for remark. ICIJ discovered that, after escaping to Dubai, he relied on Gavrilova to promote his allegedly fraudulent ventures, together with at glamorous occasions on the sidelines of the Cannes and Venice movie festivals.
Elledgy financial institution information reviewed by ICIJ confirmed that, in 2024, the corporate paid at the least $1.2 million to produce “The Portal of Power,” a sci-fi movie about two historical warrior forces waging a secret struggle, which options actors Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren and Tyrese Gibson. Spacey directed and starred within the movie.
Its Lisbon premiere, which was slated for December 2025, was cancelled with out clarification following ICIJ revelations about Gavrilova’s ties to Okhotnikov, in accordance to Expresso.
ICIJ and Expresso discovered that, because the Ukrainian businesswoman started working with the Russian crypto entrepreneur, Elledgy’s turnover skyrocketed. As of Might 2025, the PR agency had acquired at the least $4 million in funds from greater than a dozen firms primarily based in Germany, the U.Ok., Belgium and Spain. The entities included two Berlin-based courier providers that wired a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars} every to Elledgy (one wired at the least $640,000 and the opposite greater than $770,000) between October 2024 and March 2025. Among the others — formally registered as limousine providers, couriers or development companies — haven’t any web sites, present dated or no monetary statements within the international locations’ company registries, and sometimes have the identical tackle, suggesting they may very well be shell firms.
ICIJ reporters in Berlin, Dortmund and Madrid visited the official addresses of six firms, together with one registered as a clothes buying and selling agency and others listed as parcel supply providers. As a substitute of these companies, the reporters discovered mailboxes inside co-working areas and no employees or indicators of business exercise.
In accordance to Expresso, the truth that the investigation into Gavrilova’s Portuguese enterprise is now within the arms of the Central Division of Investigation and Penal Motion alerts the case has develop into an vital one for Portuguese authorities.
Gavrilova, who just lately attended a gala at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, didn’t reply to reporters’ questions in regards to the probe.
