Lawsuit against Sony for the right to trade in "gray" equipment and beating a buyer: who is behind the Stylus network

Every day, more than 5,000 Apple gadgets are smuggled into Ukraine, according to data recently published by investigative journalist Andriy Plinskyi. Obviously, most of these phones are not imported by ordinary citizens for personal use - they are imported through established schemes for further resale in outlets that sell "gray" equipment. UNN has already written about two large networks that are suspected of being involved in such a shadow business - "Yabko" and "Yabluka". This time we decided to turn our attention to the Stylus network. 

Permission to sell equipment of unknown origin 

In 2021, the Kyiv Commercial Court considered a lawsuit by two entrepreneurs against SONY CORPORATION for the latter's ban on the use of its trademarks in the sale of goods. That is, SONY actually forbade them to sell their goods, but the entrepreneurs did not like it and they went to court, which they eventually lost. Interestingly, SONY CORPORATION pointed out that the goods presented on the STYLUS website are of unknown origin. 

These entrepreneurs were Vitaliy Tsurkan and Oleh Mayor. The court decision states that Vitaliy Tsurkan used the trademark for goods and services "stylus" (under an agreement with its owner) and gave permission to place information on the relevant website, while Mayor actually offered equipment for sale. We have not yet been able to establish whether Mr. Mayor is still selling equipment. 

As for Tsurkan, he used to own a company with the telling name "STAILUS UA". 

Not only "Stylus" 

STYLYS UA LLC was registered in 2021. The main activity is web portals, but there are also additional activities, such as "activities of intermediaries specializing in trade in other goods" or "retail trade in household electrical goods in specialized stores". Currently, the company is managed by Viktor Sirenko, and the owner is a certain Tetiana Ivanivna Shevchenko from Kharkiv. Although initially the founder and owner was Vitaliy Tsurkan, who sought to sell SONY equipment without permission from the trademark owner. 

But the current owner of "Stylus UA" is also a very interesting person. Until recently, she was the owner of STLS LLC (the name suggests certain minds, doesn't it?). This company is involved in a criminal investigation launched due to tax evasion by a number of companies that organized a scheme for the illegal sale of Apple equipment in the period from 2021 to 2024. 

In addition to "STLS", according to the investigation, the scheme also involved Dakartech LLC, Oskartech LLC, Torgmaidan LLC (formerly Technocarp LLC, Elevayshn LLC, T23 LLC, Nimka LLC, Last Story LLC (formerly Pioneer Trading House LLC)), which used the details of more than 120 individuals-entrepreneurs. 

But both Tsurkan and Shevchenko are more like "pounds", the real owner of Stylus is Andriy Karpiuk, he owns the corresponding trademark. 

Andriy Viktorovych Karpiuk owns not only the Stylus trademark (in various spellings), but also a number of other trademarks. 

Interestingly, Andriy Karpiuk was once the founder and ultimate beneficiary of Kolumb Avto Dim LLC, which used to be called P13. It was under this name that we found this company in a court order issued in 2019 at the request of a National Police investigator. The investigator asked to search the premises of the STYLUS online store in order to seize, in particular, financial and economic accounting documents of P13 LLC. The National Police suspected a number of persons of selling counterfeit equipment (TM "SONY CORPORATION" and TM "TEKA") and laundering money.

Moreover, judging from everything, the STYLUS network and related companies and individuals-entrepreneurs have been engaged in such activities for many years - this conclusion can be drawn from another court order, which was issued in the framework of criminal proceedings investigating tax evasion from trade through the STYLUS network. This ruling states that one of the defendants in the proceedings, being an individual entrepreneur, deliberately underestimated income figures in reporting as early as 2012. 

I'm rooting for Ukraine! 

Andriy Karpiuk generally does not hide the fact that he owns STYLUS. We have presented the previous parts of the material to understand that this network is similar to the previous ones we considered in our materials - the same octopus with a number of LLCs and individual entrepreneurs and a whole train of questions from law enforcement and regulatory authorities. 

Karpiuk's Instagram page is currently closed to public view. But we still see the telling caption - "Invincible optimist! I live, I create. I'm rooting for Ukraine and our victory." 

And, judging by everything, Mr. Karpiuk is still stepping on the gas pedal. In 2018, he posted on his Facebook page a post with a photo showing that the car he was driving was moving through Kyiv at a speed of 250 km/h. 

Shortly before that, Karpiuk attracted attention by attacking a customer of his store with his fists, who suspected that he had been sold a stolen e-book. It turned out that the buyer was a marketer and blogger and crossed paths with Karpiuk at one of the industry conferences. That's where the clash took place. The victim said he was surprised by Karpiuk's attack, while the owner of the network insisted that he was provoked and that the issue with the purchase of the e-book had been resolved at the time of the clash. However, he admitted that he had indeed tried to hit the man on the head with a laptop. However, he said this in 2018. And already in an interview in 2023, recalling this incident, Karpiuk summed up - "There was no evidence... And we made good money" - meaning that the whole situation attracted attention to the network. 

In 2023, Andriy Karpiuk again attracted attention with a comment to a soldier who was defending Bakhmut, saying that he was not dirty enough and not wounded. 

As claimed by the NGO "Non-Stop Ukraine", Karpiuk himself actively avoided mobilization and even went abroad. We do not have data to confirm this, however, we know that in 2023 Karpiuk traveled to China. Whether he had legal grounds for this or not is a question for the relevant authorities.