The Bank of Russia has completed a large-scale investigation and uncovered facts of gross manipulation in organized trading on the Moscow Exchange. Two private traders, acting in collusion, artificially swayed the quotes of shares in the energy company OGK-2, executing more than 10,000 trades. The regulator classified their actions as a classic pump and dump scheme and brought the violators to administrative responsibility, while operations on their accounts were suspended.
The individuals in question are Konstantin and Anastasia Mikhailov, who traded from their own brokerage accounts. In their actions, they systematically violated clauses 2 and 5 of part 1 of Article 5 of Law No. 224-FZ, which prohibit market manipulation.
The Mechanics of Price Pumping
In 2025, the pair employed a two-sided strategy. On one hand, they used aggressive buy orders for OGK-2 shares, which artificially inflated the price of the securities relative to the level that would have formed without their intervention. At peak values, the traders sold off their accumulated stake, locking in profits.
In parallel, they also used the reverse scheme. Through series of aggressive sales, they drove down quotes, after which they repurchased the securities at reduced prices. Such manipulations were repeated multiple times within a single trading session.
The scale proved significant: in total, the Mikhailovs executed over 10,000 trades in the energy company's shares. Each of them triggered spikes in volatility and increased financial risks for other trading participants.
On certain days, the traders executed transactions under a pre-arranged agreement between their own accounts. These operations led to significant deviations in price and trading volume from market values.
Following the inspection, the regulator brought both individuals to administrative responsibility and issued orders to refrain from such violations in the future. The Central Bank instructed trading organizers and professional participants to suspend operations on the violators' accounts.
Why This Matters Amid the Launch of AI-Based Control
The OGK-2 shares case clearly demonstrates that manually identifying such schemes remains a labor-intensive process, and the volume of suspicious operations runs into thousands of trades. That is precisely why the Moscow Exchange previously announced the introduction of artificial intelligence into its compliance framework — the system should analyze hundreds of thousands of trades and identify signs of coordinated actions.
Irina Grekova, Senior Managing Director for Compliance and Business Ethics at the Moscow Exchange, noted that technological control tools have become one of the key areas for enhancing market resilience and transparency.
In her assessment, AI accelerates the processing of large data arrays, while the freed-up expert resources are directed toward analyzing complex cases like the one described above.
My comment: This case is a clear signal for all market participants, including crypto traders. Regulators worldwide, including Russia, are shifting from reactive measures to proactive monitoring using AI. Manipulative strategies that might previously have gone unnoticed are now becoming increasingly risky. The market is moving toward greater transparency, and participants should reconsider their trading algorithms to avoid falling under the crosshairs of automated control systems.