Exiled former banker sentenced to 14 years for embezzlement
A Moscow court has sentenced Sergei Pugachev, a former banker with ties to the Kremlin and the owner of Mezhprombank, in absentia for embezzlement. He has been sentenced to 14 years in a high-security penal colony. Pugachev is shielded from extradition by his French passport.
Sergei Pugachev, once an influential senator and the founder of Mezhprombank, was sentenced in absentia by a Moscow court on Tuesday, May 13, to 14 years in a penal colony.
The verdict relates to allegations of embezzlement and misappropriation of funds over a decade after his bank's collapse and his flight from Russia, reports the "Moscow Times." He was found guilty of misappropriating 28.7 billion rubles (approximately $357 million).
Founded in 1992, Mezhprombank became one of the largest banks in Russia, but in 2010 a court declared it bankrupt. It was determined that the primary reason for this was the issuing of unsecured loans.
The authorities accused Pugachev of misappropriating over $700 million from bailout funds provided by the Bank of Russia.
Life in exile
Pugachev has been a citizen of France since 2009. He left Russia following a conflict with members of President Vladimir Putin's inner circle after the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, he has accused the Kremlin of seizing his assets without compensation and dismantling his multi-billion-dollar business empire.
Why is Pugachev referred to as "Putin's banker"? After Boris Yeltsin's resignation, he helped finance the election campaign of the former KGB agent. He was also one of the campaign team leaders, as gazeta.pl reminds us.
