A new fraud case was opened against the former owners of Promsvyazbank Ananyevs

Against the former co-owners of Promsvyazbank, brothers Dmitry and Alexei Ananyev, a new criminal case was opened on fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code), writes Kommersant citing sources.

The Main Investigation Directorate (GSO) of the Moscow Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs filed a petition for the arrest of the bankers in the Tverskoy Court of Moscow. The criminal case was initiated on April 26 by employees of the 11th department of the Main Investigation Department, the newspaper specifies.

The Ananiev brothers appear in the case materials as “developers of a criminal scheme” and organizers of theft. According to the investigation, according to the type of loans issued to controlled non-resident companies, the Ananievs have withdrawn about 6.7 billion rubles from Promsvyazbank abroad in three years.

The criminal scheme operated from July 31, 2014 to November 14, 2017, Kommersant writes. To implement the plan, the Ananievs used four firms: Atna Capital Management Ltd, Satiniana Development Ltd, Emeraldsun Holding Ltd and Communication Technology Sweden AB. Accounts were opened for them in the bank’s Cyprus branch, Promsvyazbank-Cyprus.

In total, over three years the companies received loans for 7 billion rubles. Since in 2017, PSB got out of the control of the Ananyevs, loans were no longer serviced and were not returned. Most of the originals of the contracts under which the loans were issued were lost, investigators noted.

Dmitry Ananyev, together with his brother Alexei, controlled large Russian banks: Promsvyazbank and Vozrozhdenie. In December 2017, the Central Bank announced the reorganization of PSB, Vozrozhdenie bought out VTB a year later. Dmitry Ananyev after the nationalization of the bank left to the UK, he now resides in Cyprus. In an interview with Vedomosti shortly after leaving Russia, the billionaire accused The central bank has exceeded its powers.

In Russia, the Ananiev brothers have already arrested in absentia in another case of embezzlement of 66 billion rubles and $ 575 million. The investigation believes that the bankers were withdrawing the funds of Promsvyazbank through Promsvyaz Capital B. v., among the co-owners of which were the British Urgula Platinum and Antracite Investment. In March 2019, arbitration also obliged Ananyevs to return 66 billion rubles to the PSB, which is controlled by the state. The property of the Ananyevs was arrested.