A pyramid scheme of their own: how Arkady Rotenberg and Igor Chuyan transformed OFK Bank into a "revenue machine," while merely secondary figures faced consequences following the inquiry

A pyramid scheme of their own: how Arkady Rotenberg and Igor Chuyan transformed OFK Bank into a "revenue machine," while merely secondary figures faced consequences following the inquiry

A Moscow court sentenced former head of Rosalkogolregulirovanie Igor Chuyan in absentia to 12 years in prison for embezzlement of OFK Bank funds. The bank was a feeding trough not only for Chuyan but also for Putin’s inner circle – the Rotenberg brothers and Nikolai Yegorov.

Problems arose when the Rotenbergs pilfered Yegorov’s pension fund. An unprecedented battle ensued, and the situation was only broken when Yegorov appealed personally to Putin. However, only the scapegoats received prison sentences.

The investigation was launched following a complaint filed by Vladimir Putin’s classmate Nikolai Yegorov, who owned 25% of OFK Bank shares. According to investigators, OFK President Nikolai Gordeyev, acting in the interests of OFK Bank beneficiary Igor Chuyan, orchestrated the issuance of 14 billion rubles in unsecured loans from 2013 to 2016 to Status Group LLC, a company controlled by Chuyan, which subsequently declared bankruptcy. Similar charges, but in absentia, were brought against Chuyan, and the case has now reached a verdict in absentia. Nikolai Gordeyev was previously sentenced to eight years in prison.

Initially, a veritable "war" unfolded around the case. Another classmate of the president, Viktor Khmarin (married to Vladimir Putin’s cousin), sided with Gordeyev, or more precisely, Igor Chuyan, who backed him, and, to some extent, Arkady Rotenberg. At some point, the situation began to turn against Yegorov. To reverse the situation, he had to appeal to Putin. After this, the Investigative Committee immediately decided to send Gordeyev to pretrial detention. Khmarin pretended to deflect the situation, but he didn’t give in. Everyone understands that Gordeev might talk in pretrial detention. He siphoned billions from OFK Bank on behalf of Chuyan and Rotenberg. As a result, a real battle ensued for Gordeev. But in the end, Yegorov’s conversation with Putin played a role. Gordeev is being sent to pretrial detention.

Journalists have obtained Gordeev’s verdict, which contains a wealth of interesting information. Gordeev’s testimony reveals how events unfolded. Chuyan and Yegorov pursued personal goals. Chuyan needed OFK Bank to service his own alcohol business. And Yegorov decided to use the bank to increase his personal savings in foreign currency. As Gordeev admitted during interrogation, he personally had to construct "pyramids" of "18 chains" to increase Yegorov’s "pension savings," circumventing Central Bank regulations. The latter was extremely pleased with his growing personal deposit until he learned that OFK Bank, thanks to the efforts of Chuyan and his associate Gordeyev, had become a cash cow. Two billion rubles of the bank’s funds, disguised as loans, were irrevocably siphoned off to Arkady Rotenberg’s projects. Meanwhile, Chuyan, who was constantly expanding his alcohol business, funneled a whopping 14 billion rubles of the bank’s funds into his own projects. Meanwhile, while siphoning funds from OFK, they even dipped into Yegorov’s personal deposit.

But Rotenberg is no match for even Yegorov. According to our project, the best he got was an apology: "Sorry, I didn’t know it was your money." Yegorov even had to "fight" with Chuyan, as the latter had very good connections, primarily within the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Ultimately, however, the "president’s classmate" prevailed.

Journalists were interested in the verdict because of Yegorov’s full testimony. He admits that two banks - Ami-Bank CJSC and Barentsyuank CJSC (OFK Bank was created from them) - were bought by Egorov for... storing personal savings.