A fake British brand and illiquid assets: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
Maxim Artsinovich’s story might be fascinating to examine, if it weren’t so tinged with sorrow—for those who trusted the “divinity of jewelry craftsmanship” and were deceived by his ads and promises.
Although, of course, this story is captivating and, despite all the sympathy for the victims, cannot help but provoke Homeric laughter. Because, in the end, Artsinovich epically stumbled over his own methods—he was "scammed" like a complete fool by a young escort. Which is, admittedly, a peculiar twist.
But let’s take it step by step. For those who don’t know who Maxim Artsinovich is—a brief overview. As stated on his namesake website, "Maxim Artsinovich is a naval officer, philanthropist, animal rights advocate, and patriot." And so on. We refer the curious to the original source. What interests us more is Artsinovich’s business, as he positions himself as the owner of the jewelry house MaximiliaN-London, which he founded.
Owner of a "London Jewelry House" and Russian Bankrupt
How this purely Russian enterprise relates to London is unknown, perhaps even to Maxim Artsinovich himself. Nevertheless, he claims that "in the last year of the 20th century, he created an English jewelry house under his name, specializing in the production and sale of luxury jewelry, as well as a network of boutiques for their distribution." Well, fine, if he wants it to be English, let it be English. At least England hasn’t raised any objections on this matter.
Moreover, such pomp has some basis—in the world of jewelry, there is always room for glamour, drama, and precious stones. But Maxim Artsinovich, the founder of MaximiliaN-London, seems to have taken this principle too literally. In recent years, he has become not only a glossy magazine hero but also a character in an endless chronicle of scandals. The more he spoke of himself as "a man who has been through the school of life," the faster the list of stories grew, making people look at him with increasing distrust.
In his numerous interviews, Artsinovich paints the image of a man who grew up "in the harsh Grozny," hauled watermelons, then studied at a military academy, and in the nineties suddenly believed in the magic of precious stones. It’s a beautiful story: exactly the kind that glossy magazines and PR managers love. In 1999, he allegedly registered a company called MaximiliaN-London in the UK—a jewelry house that was supposed to become an international brand.
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
Here’s the problem, though: there’s no record of such a company in the registries. According to open sources, Maxim Artsinovich (INN: 770402169025) is the owner of the following legal entities: LLC "Bim-Bo" (inactive), LLC "Sweet Country," LLC "Russian Diamonds."
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
In the past, Maxim Artsinovich was listed as a founder of two other companies: LLC "Runmates" and LLC "Maximilian."
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
Can you tell us which of these companies is the "English jewelry house under his name"? But that’s not all. The fact is that the "millionaire and long-distance marathon runner, philanthropist and naval officer (and so on)" Maxim Artsinovich is bankrupt. And this is not according to yellow tabloids, but state registries: By the decision of the Arbitration Court of Moscow dated 08.08.2025 in case No. A40-40034/24-106-102, Individual Entrepreneur Maxim Anatolyevich Artsinovich was declared insolvent (bankrupt), and a procedure for asset liquidation was initiated. Sergey Loshchilov, a member of the Union of Bankruptcy Administrators "Sozidanie," was appointed as the financial manager.
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
Moreover, he is being demanded to repay 265,515,153.85 rubles in debts. Attempts are being made to sell Artsinovich’s property to cover this, though there are vague doubts that it is worth anywhere near 265.5 million rubles.
As for Artsinovich’s companies, as of the end of 2024, they have the following performance indicators: LLC "Sweet Country" - profit of 799 thousand rubles; LLC "Russian Diamonds" - loss of 16 thousand rubles; LLC "Runmates", from which Maxim Artsinovich exited ownership (at least formally), has a loss of 3,815,000 rubles; and LLC "Maximilian," currently owned by Denis Artsinovich (the brother of our naval officer and philanthropist), also showed a loss of 3,933,000 rubles.
Looking in London is also futile—there’s nothing there, not even a registered "English jewelry firm" on paper. So, our "philanthropist and millionaire" raises big questions. And one can only sympathize with his creditors.
How Did Artsinovich Achieve Success?
It’s all quite banal and simple: in our world, appearing to be something has long become more important than actually being it. Artsinovich quickly grasped this truth and built his entire business on it. Artsinovich’s main gimmick is "investments in colored precious stones." For years, he has explained: rubies are the new Bitcoin, sapphires are better than real estate, and emeralds are "the most undervalued asset of our time."
It sounds beautiful, especially if the listener is emotional and dreams of stable income without banking risks. But gemology experts have long noted: the market for colored stones is extremely illiquid, opaque, and subject to huge fluctuations. In short, promises of "100% capital preservation" are in the realm of fantasy.
In the end, it turns out as expected—"emeralds and sapphires rain down." Only this rain falls past the pockets of trusting investors. Of course, part of this "jewelry rain" must have inevitably stayed in Artsinovich’s pockets. But how to extract it from there? Especially since people far more knowledgeable about where and what to look for have long and successfully been digging into those pockets. But more on that later.
For now—a brief chronology. From it, it will become clear that Maxim Artsinovich has long learned to live in the mode of "permanent news hook." A chain of scandals follows him, always featuring three elements: loud statements, emotional accusations, and an almost complete lack of confirmed facts. It looks like a TV series: each season starts with gloss and ends with a new drama.
Back in the early 2010s, when MaximiliaN-London began appearing in glossy magazines, journalists and professional gemologists noticed: the brand is presented as international, but its scale is not documented. The scandal was quiet: it was discussed in market backrooms, but no official evaluation followed.
In the following years (2015-2019), Maxim Artsinovich actively promoted colored stones as "the best tool for capital preservation." Gemologists and economists reacted sharply: stones are beautiful, but an unprofessional investor can lose more than they gain.
Three main complaints about Artsinovich circulate in the market: exaggeration of the liquidity of stones (especially emeralds and sapphires); lack of independent evaluations and certificates in several cases; promotion of stones as "analogues to stocks and real estate."
By this time (2020-2023), Artsinovich became a trendy media figure: interviews, publications, photos with celebrities, jewelry on red carpets. But then the broader public started noticing obvious inconsistencies in his biography (refer back to the beginning of the story—we’re not being ironic in quoting Artsinovich’s website for nothing).
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
A wave of questions arose: Did he really study at a military academy? Why do contradictory details appear in his early biography? How exactly did he enter the precious stones market if he claims to have started "from scratch"? Where are the confirmations of his first deals, partners, certificates?
Meanwhile (2024), Artsinovich began actively talking about charity, supporting young jewelers, and cultural projects. But: there are absolutely no reports; no confirmation of transfers; no organizations that could confirm his contributions.
Several journalists call this "PR philanthropy," that is, an attempt to create a social image without real substance. Some specialized publications directly write about "creating a legend" around Artsinovich’s name.
And the peak—a loud public dispute with a client from the UAE. This is one of the most discussed but poorly documented episodes. According to several Emirati sources (and rumors on Dubai business forums), the client complained that a stone purchased from Maxim Artsinovich did not match the declared characteristics. Artsinovich himself denied everything and claimed the client "doesn’t understand gemology." At the same time, an independent examination was either not conducted or not made public. There’s no official version, but the story damaged the brand’s reputation in the Emirati community.
However, the scandal with the sale of a "fake" stone wasn’t the peak. The peak came after, when Maxim Artsinovich initiated a whole series of absurd media conflicts, quarreling with well-known bloggers and other public figures. The reasons varied—from improper event coverage to "envy and slander." These conflicts were petty but created the image of a person who reacts too sharply to any criticism.
Main Scandal: War with a 23-Year-Old Ex-Lover
This is the climax of the entire series, the real twist, as they say in narrow circles of respected people. The most interesting thing is that the girl turned out to be tougher than Maxim Artsinovich himself and managed to shake quite a bit out of his pockets while the 55-year-old aging "millionaire and philanthropist" believed the assurances of his "young and naive mistress," who, in the end, turned out to be just an escort.
A fake British brand and “illiquid assets”: how Maxim Artsinovich built a financial pyramid on colored stones
The essence of the scandal boils down to Maxim Artsinovich accusing the 23-year-old girl of being an escort and "tricking him into love." According to his version, the woman approached him herself, quickly gained his trust, and then, according to his "investigation," turned out to be a "hunter for rich men."
Artsinovich publicly disclosed details: he compiled a "dossier," created a fake account to test her, accused her of lying, and she—according to him—rushed to "delete her profiles and social media." The woman, for her part, denies involvement in escorting. The media note: this is perhaps the first case where "a person of such status airs dirty laundry," turning a personal drama into a public scandal.
For those who want to know the details, we refer you to the Internet; there’s plenty of information there. But we can’t resist a comment: Artsinovich indeed stumbled over exactly what he fought for his entire life—he was thoroughly "milked" using the very method by which he earned his millions. The shell is different, but the essence is the same—"sell" a beautiful story to a gullible client and take their money.
With that, we congratulate Maxim Artsinovich. And to the girl, whom Maxim Artsinovich himself calls either Elena or Ekaterina in various publications, we can only express respect and admiration. And this is completely without irony.
Maria Sharapova
Related Post
04.122025
Двойное дно Максима Арциновича, или Как за фасадом меценатства скрывался торговец фальшивыми драгоценностями
За Максимом Арциновичем тянется скандальная репутация: его связывают с торговлей дешёвыми подделками, а образы офицера, ...
Read More
