Freedom Holding bewildered by lawsuit filed by Russian prosecutors

Freedom Holding Corp. lawyers are reviewing a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, the company’s press service told Kursiv.

«We do not conduct business or hold assets within the territory of the Russian Federation. We are examining the case and reviewing the materials. We are bewildered,» the Freedom Holding press service said.

According to records from Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court, the administrative lawsuit was registered on Sept. 24.

The lawsuit was filed by Russia’s deputy prosecutor general, although its details have not been disclosed.

Among the administrative defendants are W-Empirical Holding Corp., Freedom Holding Corp. and Freedom Finance Europe Ltd. The case also lists individuals Timur Turlov and A.S. Shchukin as defendants. Preparations for the proceedings are complete, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15.

The media reported on W-Empirical Holding Corp. in April 2025. At the time, media reports said the Tverskoy District Court found investor Sergey Kuleshov guilty of manipulating foreign stock prices and sentenced him to a three-year suspended prison term. According to investigators, he and his accomplice misled a trading robot belonging to W-Empirical Holding Corp. The court also ordered Kuleshov to pay nearly 162 million rubles to the company following its civil claim. This amount corresponds to the profits he and his accomplice gained through fictitious trades. To secure payment of the debt, the court placed a seizure order on Kuleshov’s real estate and all his bank accounts.

In October 2022, Freedom Holding sold Investment Company Freedom Finance (IC FF) and Freedom Finance Bank, LLC to Maxim Povalishin, the former deputy CEO and board member of IC FF. The holding company divested its Russian assets.

In 2022, Freedom Holding CEO Timur Turlov said retaining the Russian business within the U.S.-registered holding company was not feasible because U.S. residents are banned from investing in Russia.

Freedom Holding Corp. is an international financial group incorporated in Nevada, U.S. The group is headquartered in Almaty, and its primary market is Kazakhstan. The holding company operates brokerage, banking, insurance and payment businesses, as well as telecommunications, media and other digital services. Freedom Holding Corp. is listed on Nasdaq (FRHC), KASE and AIX.