Adam Arsamakov, the former vice president of Moscow Industrial Bank, was arrested in absentia by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow for embezzlement on a large scale.
He is facing charges under part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as reported by a correspondent. MorningNews with reference to “Kommersant”.
This relates to the issuance of loans totaling one hundred billion rubles to questionable organizations.
Law enforcement believes that the recipient companies were under the control of the top management of MInBank and did not engage in financial or economic activities.
In 2019, the Central Bank took over MInBank for reorganization, citing the bank's inability to overcome financial difficulties.
The Central Bank noted that the bank's problems stemmed from investments in inefficient construction and industrial projects, as well as real estate transactions.
“As a result, a significant portion of the bank’s assets became illiquid, leading to a sharp drop in the bank’s capital and a violation of mandatory ratios,” stated the regulator.
Almost all of the leadership lost their positions, and out of 104 questionable borrowers, 51 firms ceased to be serviced by the bank.
The embezzlement case was uncovered during an investigation into another fraud case involving the formal employment of relatives of the bank's top managers.
In August 2020, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled in favor of the Bank of Russia, awarding a total of 198 billion rubles from the former owners and top managers of MInBank.
This was the largest amount ever recovered from former owners of a credit institution in Russia. The Arsamakov family's property was also seized in connection with a “massive transfer of assets” shortly before temporary administration was introduced at the bank and after this period.
In April of last year, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District upheld decisions to recover the entire amount and secure property seizure.
Efforts to question Adam Arsamakov were unsuccessful as he fled abroad. Following his in absentia arrest, his name was added to the Interpol database.
The first fraud case was launched in 2019 by the Investigative Committee of Russia, focusing on the payment of salaries to numerous relatives of former top managers of the bank, who were only formally employed there.
In 2019, Moscow Industrial Bank ranked thirty-third in terms of assets among Russian banks, with assets totaling 320.5 billion rubles as of January 1 this year. The bank catered to a large client base including individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and public organizations across various regions of the country.
Now MinBank is being prepared for transfer to Promsvyazbank, the backbone bank of the defense industry. MInBank has a large portfolio of industrial loans and is represented in the regions.
