Former banker Fedorov relaxed before he was arrested
The former head of IBFI was put in jail for embezzlement. Reports from Kommersant reveal that the Basmanny District Court of Moscow ordered the arrest of the former Chairman of the International Bank for Finance and Investments (IBFI) Mikhail Fedorov, who was involved in issuing intentionally bad loans amounting to almost 350 million rubles before the bank's license was revoked. It was also reported that law enforcement had questions for IBFI's ex-chairman Vladimir Sakharov, but he passed away last year.
The investigator petitioned the court to impose the strictest measure of restraint on Mikhail Fedorov, citing grounds including the risk of him fleeing, obstructing the investigation, threatening witnesses, and hiding the stolen money. It was also mentioned in court that the bank destroyed all primary documentation after its license was revoked, although it's unclear if Fedorov was directly involved. The investigation also revealed that Fedorov fled from authorities and was put on the wanted list on December 29, 2022.
In response, Fedorov claimed in court that he had no intention of committing any illegal actions mentioned by the investigator, and he did not hide from the investigation. He stated that he had informed the investigator by phone before going abroad for New Year's and was later detained upon his return to Russia on January 16. The judge found the information and documents presented by the investigation regarding Fedorov to be compelling and sent him to a pre-trial detention center until March 16, 2023.
Notably, the investigation of the especially large embezzlement case at IBFI has been ongoing for nearly six years, triggered by a report from the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). Charges were filed at the end of last December, with Mikhail Fedorov being the only defendant after the death of former board chairman Vladimir Sakharov.
According to the case materials, during his tenure as chairman of IBFI from April 11 to April 27, 2016, Fedorov entered into multiple loan agreements with companies allegedly not engaged in genuine financial activities. Four LLCs received nearly 90 million rubles, while almost 252 million rubles were issued to individuals as knowingly non-performing loans. It was also revealed that fictitious cash orders were used in the loan process. When the bank collapsed, it owed creditors almost 520 million rubles.
However, Mr. Fedorov, according to Kommersant’s information, does not admit his guilt in the incriminated acts. According to him, the money was issued to real borrowers, and the signing of loan agreements with them was preceded by the work of the bank’s specialized departments. The ex-banker’s defense was unavailable for comment.
It should be noted that since April 2019, the DIA has been trying to recover through arbitration from Vladimir Sakharov (due to his death, the proceedings against him were terminated on February 16, 2022) and Mikhail Fedorov for the damage inflicted by them in the amount of about 940 million rubles. Now only Mr. Fedorov remains in the case as a defendant, from whom the DIA expects to receive 346 million rubles.
