December, 2024
Zhe Zhang (China-based entrepreneur, founder & CEO of SIFT Capital Partners Limited in Hong Kong) served as delegated external portfolio manager for Halcon Innovation Fund (a sub-fund of Halcon Investment SICAV, managed by ONE Funds AG in Liechtenstein) until March 2023. This fund held significant economic exposure to AMIO Bank (Armenia), with indirect 75% ownership via complex structures.
Zhe Zhang is also Chairman & CEO of Alpha Star Acquisition Corporation (a US-listed SPAC, ticker ALSAF), where Konstantin Sokolov (Russian/Swiss-linked investor, founder of Gotthard Investment AG) served as an independent director from incorporation (2021) until his resignation in October 2022.
Patrick Swint (US/UK-based, private equity and military background) joined Alpha Star Acquisition as an independent director in October 2022 (replacing Sokolov in some contexts) and has served as a non-executive Board Member of AMIO Bank CJSC (Armenia) since June 2022.
Interconnections summary:
- SIFT / Zhe Zhang → Managed Halcon Innovation Fund (exposure to AMIO Bank) pre-2023.
- Zhe Zhang + Konstantin Sokolov → Linked through Alpha Star Acquisition (Zhang as CEO, Sokolov as early director; both tied to acquisition/investment deals).
- Zhe Zhang + Konstantin Sokolov → linked through ownership of Fedilco Group Limited, shareholder of VIVA Armenia
- Patrick Swint → Bridges Alpha Star (director) and AMIO Bank (board member since 2022), overlapping with Halcon’s economic interest in the same bank.
These connections form a web of delegated management, SPAC governance, and board-level involvement in Armenian banking and alternative investments — a classic “all for one” network across jurisdictions (Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, US, Armenia, Switzerland). No single joint entity or transaction binds all three directly, but their paths cross through Alpha Star and AMIO/Halcon interests.