Sumsub, involved in processing passports of Belarusians voting in the KC elections, responded to NN's publication

Ownership and control of Sumsub

«Your article states: 'Today the company positions itself as British, but in reality, the British legal entity Sum and Substance Ltd belongs to Cypriot Raritex Trade Ltd. Who truly controls the company, we do not know.'»

This statement is misleading and factually incorrect.

Sumsub is a global brand, and Raritex Trade Ltd – a company registered in Cyprus – is currently both the holding company of the Sumsub group and its primary operational structure.

The Severs brothers are publicly registered as ultimate beneficial owners in the Cypriot UBO register (Ultimate Beneficial Owners register – NN). Since the company's founding in 2015, its three founders – Andrey Sever, Yakov Sever, and Petr Sever – have been the sole ultimate beneficial owners of the business.

Additional information regarding the company's ownership and management structure is available in our public statement, published on April 22nd.»

Misrepresentation of the 2024 security incident

«Your article further states:

«In early 2026, following publications on hacker forums, the company was forced to admit that third parties had been present in its system in 2024...»

This characterization is factually incorrect.

The social media publication you refer to in your article was published after Sumsub had already officially disclosed information about the 2024 security incident through its own channels. The incident was detected and investigated by Sumsub itself, and was not "pulled" into the public domain through third-party publications or activity on hacker forums.

Your current wording falsely implies information concealment and external exposure as the reason for disclosure, which is inaccurate and misleading.»

Use of defamatory and legally disputed sources

«Your article refers to previous publications and "investigations" concerning Smart Engines and Sumsub's past activities.

We would like to draw your particular attention to the fact that the Incrypted Media article cited in your publication is based on materials originally published by Rekt. As can be seen here, the mentioned publication has already been removed based on a court order for interim measures.

For your information, we are attaching the relevant court documents.

More broadly, many of these materials presented as "investigations" rely on a combination of publicly available information, selective omissions, manipulative presentation, and, in some cases, openly false accusations to create a narrative that does not reflect the actual state of affairs regarding Sumsub's ownership structure, its operational activities, compliance practices, or technological infrastructure.

In particular, in many cases:

Sumsub was not contacted for comment before publication;

factual clarifications provided by the company are ignored or distorted;

anonymous platforms are used for publications without editorial responsibility;

and significant parts of the analysis are likely generated using large language models or originate from sources associated with the removal of negative content in exchange for financial reward.

This does not meet the standards expected of responsible journalism and raises serious concerns regarding objectivity and editorial integrity.

We once again categorically deny any connection between Sumsub and the Russian state, Russian special services, or Russian armed forces.

Sumsub takes its reputation, integrity, security obligations, and regulatory compliance responsibilities very seriously. The company remains committed to the principles of factual accuracy, transparency, and responsible engagement with customers, partners, regulators, media, and the public.

At the same time, Sumsub will continue to defend itself against false, defamatory, and misleading statements by all available legal means, including, where appropriate, lawsuits for defamation, willful falsehood, and unfair competition.

We request that the inaccuracies identified above be corrected immediately and that any future materials about Sumsub adhere to proper journalistic standards, include fact-checking, and provide a fair opportunity for comment.»

From the Editorial Board

1) The initial version of the article stated: «Today the company positions itself as British, but in reality, the British legal entity Sum and Substance Ltd belongs to Cypriot Raritex Trade Ltd. Who truly controls the company, we do not know.» In the updated version, we added an explanation of its beneficiaries, obtained from the company itself.

The Cypriot register is not public; we could not obtain this information ourselves.

2) The initial version of the article stated that «in early 2026, following publications on hacker forums, the company was forced to admit…».

In its letter, the company explained that the incident was detected and investigated by Sumsub itself and was not forced by publications on hacker forums.

3) The Incrypted Media publication, cited in the initial version of the article, is indeed based on a Rekt publication, which was later removed from that publication's page by court order for interim measures pending a final court decision.

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