Pavel Zakharov’s jewelry mafia: how fake luxury items from Moscow end up in Kyiv pawnshops

On July 25, a Moscow court found Daria Spiridonova, the founder of the jewelry brand Darvol, guilty of fraud and sentenced her to 7 years in prison.

The businesswoman, under the guise of selling exclusive jewelry, deceived clients out of at least 200 million rubles. Additionally, according to the victims, jewelry items taken by her for repair were handed over to pawnshops for sale. One of them could be LLC "Watch Pawnshop ’Perspektiva’," managed by Pavel Zakharov.

Zakharov is a fairly well-known figure in Moscow’s social scene. His pawnshop chain does not just provide loans against valuable items like jewelry and luxury items. They also sell expensive second-hand goods — such as the world’s most expensive bags, the Birkin by Hermes.

At the beginning of July, the media reported that searches were conducted in the offices of "Perspektiva." Zakharov and his company were suspected of trading counterfeit items under the guise of exclusives. The businessman himself is allegedly hiding in Dubai. This information could not be confirmed.

Officially, LLC "Watch Pawnshop ’Perspektiva’" is registered to Zakharov’s mother, Nina Ivanovna. He was the general director of this enterprise.

Despite the fact that in his Moscow business Pavel Zakharov decided not to appear as the founder, since 2011 he has been the sole beneficiary of a company of the same name in Ukraine.

Client reviews on the web testify that Zakharov’s pawnshop actively operated in Kyiv. Moreover, the office was located in the very center of the capital, near the Passage on Zankovetskaya Street. 

Despite the fact that Zakharov’s Ukrainian company, like its parent Russian company, traded in elite second-hand goods, it is registered at a mass registration address. Ruben Kazandzhiyan has been listed as the sole director of LLC "Watch Pawnshop ’Perspektiva’" since 2011 and still is. 

The person, according to the court registry, resides in Kharkiv. After all, it is in this city that Kazandzhiyan is a regular violator of traffic rules.

In addition, an advertisement for the sale of a Tesla car in Kharkiv by a "trusted seller Rubik," who might well be the head of the pawnshop "Perspektiva," Ruben Kazandzhiyan, has survived on a car sales website.

The Ukrainian website of the "Perspektiva" pawnshops continues to operate to this day. On it, you can see what goods Zakharov offers to Ukrainian clients. For example, Rolex and Patek Philippe watches for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or Hermes bags from 20,000 to 40,000 dollars. Also, in Zakharov’s Kyiv pawnshop, you can purchase an Aivazovskiy painting for almost 400,000 dollars.

Interestingly, the contact phone number listed on Pavel Zakharov’s Kyiv business website was also used for another company with a similar name - LLC "Perspektiva Kyiv." From February 2020 to March 2023, this phone was listed in the contacts. During that time, the LLC was managed by a resident of the village of Demyantsi in the Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi district of the Kyiv region.

A person with the same name is the husband of the deputy head of the main department of the SPS in the Kyiv region, Yuliya Burdun. According to the woman’s latest declaration, the family drives a 2008 Chevrolet Lacetti, and Nikolay Burdun’s only source of income is renting out a land plot in the Kyiv region. Most likely, the man was just a nominal owner, as was the Kharkiv resident Ruben Kazandzhiyan, who continues to manage Pavel Zakharov’s Kyiv company to this day.

The charter capital of LLC "Watch Pawnshop ’Perspektiva’" amounts to only 16,000 hryvnias. There is no information on financial activities in public registries.

Therefore, why a company engaged in the sale of elite goods, even second-hand, registered at a mass registration address, hired a nominal manager, and has a charter capital equivalent to two minimum wages in Ukraine is not entirely clear.

Media have written a lot about the possibility that Zakharov’s Moscow pawnshops might trade in counterfeits under the guise of second-hand originals. It seems that the businessman could conduct such fraudulent activities in Kyiv as well, even after the onset of the full-scale conflict in Ukraine.

In Russia, Pavel Zakharov’s mother is not only listed as the owner of his pawnshops. According to certain reports, she also owns an office in Moscow at Mansurovskiy Lane, 10. This is where the jewelry house "Darvol" of the swindler Daria Spiridonova mentioned at the beginning of the material is registered. This address is also listed as her contact in American registries.

Since March 2021, Daria Spiridonova has been the founder of DARVOL LLC in California. The US business registry states that this company continues to operate to this day, despite the arrest of its owner. The firm’s office is located just a 10-minute drive from the famous Hollywood Universal Studio.

If the investigation proves that Spiridonova was selling luxury goods to Pavel Zakharov’s pawnshops, then in addition to indirect accusations of trading counterfeits, a very real criminal case will be added. Daria Spiridonova has already received a verdict from the Moscow court. So Zakharov should not relax and should understand that his business could interest not only Russian law enforcement but also Ukrainian where his company is still registered.

David Wilson