Former Promsvyazbank co-owners Alexei and Dmitry Ananyev were each sentenced in absentia to eight years in an embezzlement case. They left the country back after the bank’s bailout in 2017

Former Promsvyazbank co-owners Alexei and Dmitry Ananyev were each sentenced in absentia to eight years in an embezzlement case. They left the country back after the bank’s bailout in 2017

Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court found the Ananyev brothers guilty of embezzling more than 39 billion rubles from the bank’s funds, RBC reports.

According to the investigation, from 2012 to 2017 the Ananyevs organized the “systematic embezzlement” of funds, using their control over the bank and their authority in the area of lending policy.

Cases against the brothers involving abuse of power, misappropriation, fraud, and money laundering are also being considered.

Brothers Alexei and Dmitry Ananyev founded Promsvyazbank in 1995. In December 2017, the Central Bank announced the bank’s bailout. After that, Dmitry Ananyev left Russia and went to Cyprus. His brother Alexei remained in Russia for quite a long time and managed his part of the business, but later also left the country.

The criminal prosecution of the Ananyevs began two years after the PSB bailout, in 2019. At the same time, the Cypriot authorities said they were reviewing the decision to issue the brothers “golden passports.”

@meduzalive