Producer who financed film about Zelenskyy linked to fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme – media
Film producer Elvira Havrylova-Paterson, who raised funding for a film about Zelenskyy, may be linked to an international cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
According to Censor.NET, citing Slidstvo.Info, this is stated in an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Volodymyr Okhotnikov
It is noted that Havrylova-Paterson’s Portuguese company, Elledgy Media Group, has been promoting the platforms of Kazakhstan-born Volodymyr Okhotnikov since 2024.
"Okhotnikov, 47, known as Lado, is believed to be the organiser of a series of cryptocurrency fraud operations. Over the past five years, his activities have spanned four continents and allowed him to collect around USD 1 billion from millions of investors.
US prosecutors have accused him of creating a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform to steal at least USD 340 million from investors between 2020 and 2022," the investigation says.
It is known that last year, a Georgian court convicted Okhotnikov of laundering USD 1.1 million in proceeds from Forsage.
Thirty-six-year-old Elvira Havrylova-Paterson promotes Okhotnikov’s brands abroad, as he cannot travel due to the risk of being arrested in several countries. He currently resides in the UAE.
Investigators note that over the past two years Havrylova’s PR agency has organised a number of star-studded events in the United States, France, Italy, India and the UAE to promote Okhotnikov’s projects.
In January 2025, Havrylova told a legal adviser in confidential correspondence that since she met Okhotnikov, more than USD 4 million had "passed through" her Portugal-registered company.
Portuguese authorities had earlier launched an investigation into Elledgy on suspicion of money laundering.
It is known that Elledgy also co-produced the film Saga of the Goligards — Portal of Power, directed by and starring Kevin Spacey. The film’s trailer was presented at a Venice event in August this year. The script was written by Volodymyr Okhotnikov. His company co-produced the film together with Havrylova’s company; the production cost was about USD 10 million.
Meanwhile, according to Havrylova, in 2022 she contributed to the production of American director Sean Penn’s film Superpower. In the film, Sean Penn enters President Zelenskyy’s Office in the first days of the war, where he records conversations with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Andriy Yermak. He also speaks with then-Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klychko and others.
"I was part of the executive producing team for Superpower. I contributed funds and helped secure financing for the film," Havrylova-Paterson said.
It is also known that Havrylova volunteered with the NGO "Union of Television and Film Industry Entrepreneurs," which belongs to Presidential Office head Yermak. Together with the organisation’s head and Yermak’s business partner Artem Koliubaiev, she raised funds for Ukraine and the Armed Forces. In March 2023 they held a charity event in Greece, and another in Zhytomyr in July.
In August 2025, Koliubaiev was seated next to Havrylova at a private event in Venice. Kevin Spacey was also beside her.
What does Koliubaev say?
In a comment to Slidstvo.Info, Koliubaiev said he has nothing to do with Havrylova. He added that they only know each other from "several volunteer events", "ran into each other at film festivals", and "follow each other on social media."
Other links involving Havrylova
According to journalists, Havrylova in Ukraine also had ties to the international company Teletrade, whose representatives, as well as a similarly named company, Teletrade D.J. International Consulting Ltd, appear in Ukrainian court records in fraud-related cases.
From 2016 to 2018, she headed the company Academy of Exchange Technologies, which is linked to the Centre of Exchange Technologies (CET). Back in 2018, CBT held a traders’ competition jointly with Teletrade.
In 2016, Havrylova herself was photographed together with Vladimir Chernobai, a co-founder of Russian Teletrade companies, and Vaagn Simonyan, a Russian national who in 2020 was referred to as a former Teletrade top manager.
Reaction from Havrylova-Paterson and Yermak
She did not respond to a number of questions from the international investigative team regarding her possible role in the international cryptocurrency fraud scheme.
The head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, also did not respond to a request from Slidstvo.Info journalists regarding Havrylova-Paterson’s role in the film production — which, among other things, involved access to the President’s bunker in the first days of the war.
