Burlakov case

[3][4][5] Court proceedings are ongoing in the UK, Monaco, Panama, Montenegro, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA, Cyprus, Latvia, Russia and several other countries.

[15] For about 20 years of his early career Burlakov served in the USSR's Soviet Army, conducting scientific research in military aviation.

In 1980 he successfully defended a dissertation and earned the Soviet academic title of a "Candidate of Sciences" from Moscow-based Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy.

[15][7] In 1988 Oleg Burlakov, Nikolai Kazakov and his wife Vera Kazakova established a joint cooperative in Kharkov city, named "Integral".

The USSR collapsed in 1991, while Burlakov and Kazakov were enlarging their businesses, acquiring control of several large industrial companies, specifically "Belgorodcement", "Novoroscement" and "Burneftegaz".

According to mass media, this was mainly because Oleg Burlakov appeared to be having an affair with a young woman called Sofia Shevtsova, a stewardess.

In 2018, Lyudmila Burlakova transferred large sums of capital from bank accounts entrusted to her by her husband and his business partner, Nikolai Kazakov.

[18] The overall amount siphoned off by Lyudmila Burlakova was estimated at 1.5 billion US dollars, all of which were collectively earned by Oleg Burlakov and his business partner.

[19] In September 2019, Burlakov accused his wife and youngest daughter Veronica of fraud and embezzlement by filing allegations to courts in Monaco and Switzerland.

Vera Kazakova, his sister, planned to bury him at Serafimovskoe Cemetery in his native Saint Petersburg where graves of Oleg Burlakov's mother, father and grandmother are located.

However, the businessman's widow Lyudmila Burlakova and her daughters Veronika and Elena insisted on burying the body in Canada, despite the fact that they never visited Oleg Burlakov in hospital according to Russian newspaper Izvestia.

Oleg Burlakov's estate is being claimed by Lyudmila Burlakova and both of his daughters on the one hand and his sister Vera Kazakova and her husband and business partner Nikolai Kazakov on the other.

[1][41] Civil proceedings are ongoing in Monaco seeking recognition of the validity of the handwritten will made in 2019 will in favour of Nikolai Kazakov and Vera Kazakova.

[1] A criminal case against Lyudmila Burlakova was initiated for embezzlement and money laundering in 2018, based on the withdrawal of assets that were entrusted to her as a nominee.

These attempts turned out to be unsuccessful and the Panamanian court issued civil and criminal injunctions prohibiting Veronika and Lyudmila to hold themselves out as shareholders of these Panamanian companies Burlakov widow and daughters attempted to freeze the yacht "Black Pearl", owned by a company controlled by Burlakov[42] in the Court of Montenegro.

Proceedings were initiated by Luydmila Burlakova and daughters seeking a freeze on the accounts owned by Panamanian entity of which Burlakov was a beneficiary.

[43] Three criminal investigations were initiated against Lyudmila Burlakova in Ukraine for contempt of court, fraudulent seizure of inheritance, and embezzlement of property.

[44][45] The Burlakov daughters filed a lawsuit on behalf of their children against the Kazakov family for the recovery of $15 million caused as a result of the Burlakovas' loss of rights to a luxury apartment in Miami, Florida.

[46] In November 2022, the Burlakovas made a claim under the RICO law, alleging that various corporate service providers and entities were part of a criminal organisation engaged in racketeering activity.

Following the application by Veronica for the issuance of an inheritance certificate in Russia, the Kazakovs filed a civil claim in the Russian courts for recognition as heirs under the 2019 handwritten will.

[47] [48] In accordance with the Civil Code of Russia, the form of the will is determined by the law of the country in which the person had permanent residence at the time of its making.

[49] Lyudmila Burlakova filed a claim with the Petrogradsky district of Saint Petersburg against Nikolaiy Kazakov seeking the return of 800 million of Russian roubles.

[46][1] In Cyprus a challenge is pending to an application brought by Lyudmila Burlakova and her daughters for an ad colligenda order over the shares of the entity holding the famous yacht named Black Pearl.

In addition, the Cypriot court is currently determining a challenge brought by the Kazakovs against an interim order seeking the transfer of the entity holding the Black Pearl to trustees of the estate appointed pursuant to a Latvian inheritance proceedings.