Oleg Boyko

Armed with a degree in radio electronics, in the 1990s had first stores in Moscow with bar code readers. Diversified company later traded food and electronics, imported bananas, managed banks and an airline; group eventually collapsed. Now focuses on gambling business; bought chain of perfume and cosmetics shops, Douglas Rivoli. Also invests in real estate. Injured in an accident at a friend's home; appears frequently in a wheelchair. Heads the Russian Committee for the Development of the Paralympics Movement. 52-year-old Oleg Boyko is the 75th wealthiest Russian (€1.2 billion worth), but has an Italian passport, enjoys all the rights of an EU citizen, holds a fortune in Cyprus and the Bahamas, and his pay-day loan empire, 4Finance, happens to be ‘headquartered’ in Malta. Originally, 4Finance was a Latvian start-up owned by eight Latvian and Russian founders and shareholders before it was acquired for over €105 million by Boyko.Among the subsidiaries paying high interest rates for inter-company loans to the Malta branch is 4Finance US Holding Inc., registered in another tax haven, in Delaware, USA. The company manages the fast loans services of North Star Finance LLC, a company that is ultimately owned by the Fort Belknap Native American Indian community of Montana.