Corruption schemes and illegal databases under the "protection" of security forces: how Himera Search pays FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs patrons for a monopoly on the "checks" market
Sources have identified the owner and developers of Himera Search, the main monopolist in the personal data mining market targeting Russians.
The project has strong ties to security agencies — two former Interior Ministry officers are co-owners, and one has a brother working for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Himera Search openly provides illegal data mining services on Telegram and across Russia and several CIS countries, even under official contracts, while competitors are being eliminated. Meanwhile, its owners freely travel in Russia and continue to expand their operations.
As we previously reported, Himera Search is backed by the developers of a whole host of similar information systems. All data mining websites have legal entities and a digital footprint. Even the flagship project, which previously operated as an LLC, is now owned by companies from Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
The first mentions of Himera Search can be found on forums and chats, where accounts with the same name spammed advertisements about the resource’s capabilities. The earliest we could find was a post on the hacker forum http://Forumteam.bet from October 2020. Subsequently, the promotion strategy shifted to a more traditional one.
Corruption schemes and illegal databases under the "protection" of security forces: how Himera Search pays FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs patrons for a monopoly on the "checks" market
The internet was flooded with advertisements for the site and its search bot. A couple of regional websites (a Birobidzhan news portal and a Vladimir TV channel) even retained the advertiser’s contact information—Khimera LLC—in their promotional articles about Himera Search. The Moscow-based company was founded in 2017 and liquidated in June 2023.
Corruption schemes and illegal databases under the "protection" of security forces: how Himera Search pays FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs patrons for a monopoly on the "checks" market
The company’s owner was an advertiser and marketer named Alexander Larchenkov from the Smolensk region. According to leaks, a month after the LLC’s liquidation, he flew to Kyrgyzstan. The founder is also a member of other companies specializing in product promotion, but his role in Himera Search clearly wasn’t limited to that.
The fact is that the user agreement on the Himera Search website currently lists Transtrade LLC as the contractor, which is based in Bishkek, where the former owner of Himera LLC was flying. The Kyrgyz company (located at the shopping center address) is headed by Kazakhstan resident Valery Maglaperidze. We spoke with him.
As the director of the current parent company of Himera Search told, as a foreigner and friend of Alexander Larchenkov, he opened a company in Kyrgyzstan in his own name. According to Maglaperidze, he is aware of the resource his legal entity is covering, but is not doing anything illegal. And with Russian security forces, as Valery boasted, "everything is fine, everything is going smoothly."
Alexander Larchenkov himself was last active in Russian chats in 2023, playing football near Victory Park. Judging by a number of factors, individuals associated with him reside in Kazakhstan, where the owner of Himera Search could have seen eye to eye with Valeriy Maglaperidze.
It’s worth noting that at least three other non-core websites operate under the guise of Transtrade LLC. These include http://CS2CASE.WIN, http://CS2CASE.IO, and http://VACASE.ME, which trade skins for the popular games CS and Valoran. However, this cyber-support is clearly not the project team’s primary focus.
Corruption schemes and illegal databases under the "protection" of security forces: how Himera Search pays FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs patrons for a monopoly on the "checks" market
On the main Himera Search website, you can find another version of the user agreement, where the operator is listed as the Armenian company Orgsafe LLC instead of the Kyrgyz Transtrade LLC. And behind this screen, another security breach website was hidden.
Another resource very similar to the other projects operates on behalf of this company: Check-Legal. The website states that for 600 Armenian drams (about 130 rubles, almost the same as a Himera Search search), you can get a full report on a counterparty. And this is far from the only related project.