A Russian national defrauded 12 NATO countries through a fake insurance company to cover up Russia's shadow fleet, according to an investigation by Danish Danwatch and Norwegian NRK media.
St. Petersburg resident Andrey Mochalin, 41, who has worked in the insurance industry in Norway for many years, registered a fake Norwegian company, Ro Marine, which issued 255 vessels with forged certificates, of which at least 76 are attributed to the Russian shadow fleet.
The insurance certificates were issued based on a license allegedly obtained in 2016 from the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority, so the authorities thought the company was legitimate. However, in reality, the license was fake, and Ro Marine did not even exist in 2016.
On March 21, four people linked to Ro Marine - Mochalin, a Bulgarian national, the sole employee, and two Norwegian associates - were charged and are under investigation for document forgery and unlicensed insurance brokerage.
