Alexey Mikhailovich Zhirovkin, the Russian national operating under the alias "Alex Richter," continues to reside openly in the Dominican Republic despite leading the collapsed cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes Antares Trade and Alcor Trade. These ventures defrauded investors of sums estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Zhirovkin, a fugitive from Russia facing theft charges, fled his home country in 2012 with his wife. They have lived in the Dominican Republic since that time, though details regarding how Zhirovkin secured permanent residency remain undisclosed. His operation began in 2020 with Antares Trade, a simple MLM crypto Ponzi scheme built around AND Ponzi points.
The initial iteration of Antares Trade collapsed in August 2021. Zhirovkin then relaunched the scam as Alcor Trade, featuring an ANTD token and promising a 200,000% return on investment. This iteration lasted until February 2022. Following its collapse, Zhirovkin rebranded once more as "Antares Trade 2.0."
As Antares Trade 2.0 began to falter in May 2022, Zhirovkin attempted a brief revival of Alcor Trade. However, the scheme's profitability had clearly diminished. The collapses of Antares Trade 2.0 and the Alcor Trade reboot were flagged in May 2022.
Accepting the limits of investor exploitation, Zhirovkin shifted his focus to managing investor complaints directed at authorities. He spent May and June of 2022 posting disingenuous updates on YouTube, attempting to placate victims of Antares and Alcor. During this period, he also began claiming to be based in Mexico.
Following the May 2022 collapse, "Richter" promoted a marketing event in Dubai, purportedly featuring Mike Tyson and Jordan Belfort. This event, originally scheduled for June 1st and then rescheduled for July 15th, was anticipated to be Zhirovkin's final exit scam. The event never materialized, and Zhirovkin never left the Dominican Republic.
His last communication as Alex Richter, dated June 24th, assured investors there was "absolutely no reason to worry" and that Antares was "developing very actively and everything is great." However, information indicates that in June or July, a group of victims confronted Zhirovkin in the Dominican Republic. This encounter reportedly did not go well, leading Zhirovkin to file a lawsuit against the victims for "assault and threats." A court hearing is scheduled for September 26th in Higuey. Zhirovkin and his wife reside in a private gated community in Cocotal, approximately 40 minutes from Higuey. Despite operating a Ponzi scheme believed to involve hundreds of millions of dollars, Dominican Republic authorities have yet to take action against Zhirovkin.