The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow sentenced Promsvyazbank founders Alexei and Dmitry Ananyev in absentia to eight years in a general-regime penal colony each. The court found the brothers guilty of fraud on an especially large scale committed by an organized group and fined each 700,000 rubles.
According to investigators, from 2012 to 2017 the Ananyevs, using their control over the bank, organized the systematic theft of its funds. Companies they controlled received knowingly non-repayable loans, after which the money was withdrawn, including through the bank's Cyprus branch.
The court also ordered the Ananyevs to jointly pay more than 39 billion rubles to Promsvyazbank and Trust Bank. Both defendants are abroad and have been put on the international wanted list.
Alexei Ananyev's defense said there was no evidence of his guilt and intends to appeal the verdict. Lawyer Dina Tyurina claims that the court examined the criminal case materials, which comprise about 160 volumes, in four days.
The Ananyevs founded Promsvyazbank in 1995. Criminal prosecution of the brothers began in 2019, two years after the bank was bailed out. The Lefortovo court is also considering another criminal case against them — on abuse of authority, embezzlement and money laundering.