Former vice-president of the Moscow Industrial Bank (Minbank) Adam Arsamakov was arrested in absentia.
The son of Abubakar Arsamakov, the former leader of one of the biggest financial organizations in Russia, which is currently being restructured by the Central Bank, is charged with very large theft. Earlier, the arbitration found the Arsamakovs and 16 other individuals who managed the credit institution guilty of causing losses to the bank and recovered almost 200 billion rubles from them.
According to Kommersant, the Investigative Committee of Russia (Investigative Committee of Russia) initiated the first criminal case on fraud in the Ministry of Bank in 2019. It concerns the payment of salaries to numerous relatives of the former top managers of this credit institution, who were only formally listed there.
Understanding this story, which has not yet concluded, the TFR uncovered a much larger embezzlement of the funds of the Ministry of Bank.
As a result, another criminal case was initiated on the embezzlement (part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), in which 36-year-old Adam Arsamakov, the son of the former president of this credit institution, Abubakar Arsamakov, became a defendant.
It should be noted that almost all of the top management of the Ministry of Bank lost their positions at the beginning of 2019, when the financial institution fell under the reorganization of the Central Bank. The regulator concluded that the inefficient and dishonest management of the bank nearly brought it to bankruptcy. In addition, numerous violations and abuses were identified, which became the subject of an investigation by the TFR.
In particular, according to Kommersant, the materials of the criminal case deal with the issuance of loans to suspicious organizations in excess of 100 billion rubles.
Meanwhile, out of 104 borrowers, 51 stopped servicing their debts immediately after the temporary administration took over the Ministry of Bank. According to the investigation, the debtor firms were likely under the control of the top management of the Ministry of Bank. In any case, the credit committee easily issued money to structures that did not engage in any financial and economic activities, categorizing them as reliable borrowers. There are currently more than two dozen such organizations in operation.
According to Kommersant, initially the investigation had questions for the president of the Ministry of Bank, Abubakar Arsamakov, who has led this credit institution since 1998. However, it was discovered that on November 14, 2020, the ex-banker passed away at the age of 65 due to the effects of a coronavirus infection. However, as Kommersant’s sources in law enforcement state, they allegedly still do not have official confirmation of this information.
Abubakar Arsamakov
RBC news agency, 11/14/2020, “The former head of the Moscow Industrial Bank died of coronavirus”: In 2016, Arsamakov unsuccessfully ran for the State Duma from A Just Russia. In recent years, he was the plenipotentiary representative of the chairman of the party in the Voronezh region. — Inset K.ru
An attempt to interrogate the former vice-president of the Ministry of Bank Adam Arsamakov was also unsuccessful – he fled abroad. After his arrest in absentia, his name should appear in the Interpol search database.
It is also worth noting that after being removed from his post at the Ministry of Banking, Arsamakov Jr. became almost the only one who appealed this decision in court.
In his lawsuit, he asked to pay “lost earnings” for almost six months in the amount of 2.1 million rubles. (the salary of the ex-banker was 600 thousand rubles per month). However, in August 2019, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow refused Arsamakov Jr.
Interestingly, in parallel with this, Adam Arsamakov was also suing the Central Bank, which “deprived him of the right to engage in banking activities and hold leadership positions.” In particular, the ex-banker demanded that the regulator’s order of January 29, 2019 be declared illegal, which stated that “he was found not to meet the requirements for business reputation.” At the same time, the applicant denied his guilt in the unfavorable financial situation of the Ministry of Bank, calling his actions as a member of the board of the credit institution “reasonable and conscientious”.
Arsamakov Jr. failed to win the dispute with the Central Bank and the Moscow Arbitration Court. In August 2020, the latter satisfied the regulator’s claim against the former vice president of the Minbank and 17 other top managers who controlled this credit institution, collecting almost 200 billion rubles from them jointly and severally.
The Ministry of Bank refused to comment on the situation with the arrest in absentia and the claims of the investigation against Adam Arsamakov.
