The ex-head of Interprombank Pugachev was convicted in absentia to a 14-year term

The Tver District Court of Moscow sentenced to 14 years in prison of the ex-Benophicar Interprombank (MPB) by Sergey Pugachev. One of the most famous Russian bankers, the process of which was held in absentia, was found guilty of embezzlement of funds of a credit institution and damage it for a total of 92 billion rubles. Protection for the objectivity of the proceedings asked to send Sergei Pugachev’s case to France, whose citizen he is now.

The correspondence trial in relation to the international wanted list of 62-year-old Sergei Pugachev, accused of assigning funds entrusted to him using his official position, organized groups in an particularly large amount and organization of abuse of grave consequences (part 4 of article 160, part 3 of article 33, part 2 of article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), launched in the Tverskoy District Osset capital back in November 2023.

However, a year later, after one and a half dozen court hearings took place, the hearing had to be interrupted. It turned out that the trial began with a violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, namely, without holding preliminary hearings in such cases: the corresponding appeal of the prosecutor’s office on this subject was satisfied with the Moscow City Court. It is interesting that at the first meeting at the preliminary hearings, Sergey Pugachev insisted, but judge Alexei Krivoruchko rejected this petition.

As a result, in December 2024, all the same judge Krivoruchko He began to consider The case is new, but already from the stage of preliminary hearings. Moreover, if at first the process took place in open mode, then after the resumption – already in a closed one. Having held two dozen court hearings, the court found ex-banker Pugachev guilty of all points of the charges and sentenced him to 14 years of colony of general regime and a fine of 800 thousand rubles. The sentence will be calculated from the moment of its actual detention and detention.

Lawyer Anna Stavitskaya, who defended Sergei Pugacheva at the investigation stage (in court he was represented by the defender according to his intended purpose), told Kommersant that her client was against the absentee process and insisted on considering the case with his participation.

According to the defender, the ex-banker believed that « there were legal grounds to transfer the materials of his criminal case to France, whose citizen he is now, and there to conduct an objective investigation. »

From the plot of the indictment, it follows that the MPB was created by the accused in 1992. In 2001, Sergei Pugachev was approved by the Senator from the Tuva government and then formally left the business. However, as the investigation established, all subsequent years until the recall of the MPB, the license on October 5, 2010, this credit institution was under its control, and all illegal operations to withdraw funds were carried out exclusively at the direction of the beneficiary of Pugachev.

As already said “Kommersant”the first criminal case of fraud in the MPB was instituted by the Investigative Committee of the Central Bank and the Deposit Insurance Agency in January 2011. It was about unlawful actions in bankruptcy and deliberate bankruptcy (Articles 195 and 196 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). And just a few days before, the head of Tuva Sholban Kara-ool sent Senator Pugachev to resign, since he « does not provide any support to the republic. »

Without waiting for a call for interrogation, in 2011, the banker immediately left for a diplomatic passport to France, where they bought a castle in Nice with an area of ​​2.6 thousand square meters in 2007. m.

In 2009, Sergey Pugachev received the citizenship of this country, refusing in 2012 from the Russian one – the relevant statement was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. After that, the ex-banker repeatedly initiated the processes in foreign courts against the Russian authorities allegedly ruining him. These attempts were unsuccessful, as, indeed, the efforts of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, which achieved the issuance of a cursory oligarch.

The charge is already in another case – about a particularly large embezzlement – he was brought in absentia at the end of 2013, and in May 2014 Sergey Pugachev was also arrested in absentia in absentia.

As the investigation established, with the position of which the court agreed, the beneficiary carried out the scams in his credit institution thanks to the help of subordinates: Dmitry Amunz, who worked in the United Industrial Corporation associated with the MPB and the chairman of the Executive Directorate of the Ministry ofPAs of the Ministry ofPAs Alexander Didenko. They were sentenced to seven years and three years conditionally, respectively. According to the Investigative Committee, the criminal group led by Sergei Pugachev in 2008-2009 stole the funds that belonged to the MPB. Then the Central Bank allocated this jar of a sound -like loan in the amount of almost 40 billion rubles. 28.7 billion rubles. Of this amount, they were taken to the Cyprus Offshore, which is under the control of Sergei Pugachev.

Another person involved in this case, who replaced Alexander Didenko as the chairman of the Executive Directorate of the Ministry of Economics of the Ministry of Economic Council, Alexei Zlobin, as well as Sergei Pugachev, recognized by the organizer of the crime, managed to hide abroad and is on the wanted list.

In the criminal case on the abuse of authority, which the Investigative Committee excited in November 2015, we are talking about terminating the pledges on loans by almost 68 billion rubles, after which the MPB went bankrupt.

These frauds, as the investigation and the court established, at the direct instructions of the accused Pugachev was carried out by the former head of the Executive Directorate of the Ministry of Economics of the Ministry ofPAs, Marina Illarionova (convicted for four years). She held her position for only two months – from August 3 to October 5, 2010, that is, up to the recall of the Bank of the license. During this time, she signed 32 agreements on the termination of the pledge of shares of the Yenisei Industrial Company CJSC (EPK) with CJSC « Farmavit », as well as 180 agreements on the termination of the collections of the Cyprus OPK MINING LIMITED stock with the Slaris Property Invest Corp. As a result, 36 borrowers should remain MPB several tens of billions of rubles.

Meanwhile, the collateral and market value of the shares of the EPK and OPK Mining Limited almost doubled the loan debt of the borrowers and, as the bankruptcy trustee claimed in the law enforcement agencies, it would have been enough to satisfy 85.69% of the requirements of the MPB creditors. It should be noted that all previously convicted defendants and a number of witnesses questioned as part of the investigation claimed that « the instructions emanating from Pugachev were considered as mandatory, despite the fact that he did not occupy any official official position in the bank. »

Oleg Rubnikovich, Maria Lokotetskaya