The case is lucrative: the defendants in the investigation of the theft of pensions were charged with organizing OPS

The owners of the Russian Funds investment group, Sergei Vasiliev and Konstantin Beyrit, as well as the former head of AFK Sistema, Evgeny Novitsky, and the ex-president of Bashneft, Viktor Khoroshavtsev, were charged with organizing a criminal community, Izvestia found out. According to investigators, about half a million people lost their pension savings due to the actions of the accused, and the damage exceeded 9.6 billion rubles.

OPS structure

The case against Evgeny Novitsky, Sergey Vasiliev and Konstantin Bayrit related to the organization of the OPS was initiated on June 30, Izvestia found out. The so-called 11th banking department of the GSU is engaged in it, it has been investigating especially large-scale fraud for six episodes involving the same defendants for three years.

The new charges, according to Izvestia, were brought against them last Friday— September 25. The three-month delay is related, among other things, to procedural issues related to combining this production with the main investigation, the sources explained. They also highlighted the consistent work of the DIA Group of Companies to bring defendants to criminal responsibility and protect the interests of defrauded pensioners. "This allows us to expect that the social problem will be solved," one of the sources stressed.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Andrey Erstrem

According to the charges, the owners of the Russian Funds investment group, Sergei Vasiliev and Konstantin Bayrit, created a criminal community no later than July 19, 2013. The OPS, according to investigators, also included the former head of AFK Sistema, Evgeny Novitsky, and the former president of Bashneft, former senator Viktor Khoroshavtsev. The latter was charged in absentia, as he is on the international wanted list.

Another participant in the case, Oleg Mezentsev, head of Pallada Asset Management, headed one of the two OPS units, investigators believe. Olga Illarionova, Deputy General Director of Pallada Capital Management Company, was responsible for overseeing depository activities and, according to the prosecution, was an ordinary executive.

The investigation is confident that the OPS had a single material base and a permanent staff. The participants had known each other for a long time and maintained friendly relations. The group operated for a long time, everyone obeyed a strict hierarchy and reported to their supervisors.

In addition, the community followed the measures of secrecy and acted according to a pre-worked out scheme. The prosecution believes that everyone knew about the criminal purpose and understood their role in the OPS.

How assets were withdrawn

According to investigators, Vasiliev and Bayrit decided to steal money from six non-governmental pension funds. They thought out the scheme in advance, distributed the roles among the accomplices and decided who was responsible for what.

Evgeny Novitsky

Photo: TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

Khoroshavtsev and Novitsky then shared the money with them. Oleg Mezentsev provided information about the assets, loan portfolios and financial performance of NPFs, which his company managed under trust management agreements. Olga Illarionova followed the instructions of the organizers.

The scheme consisted of several stages. First, on behalf of the companies controlled by Vasiliev and Bayrit, UNGP-Finance and Delta-Finance, which, according to investigators, did not actually conduct financial and economic activities, issued unsecured securities worth 20 billion rubles. Then, through IC Pallada Capital and CJSC Prospect, also controlled by the organizers, transactions were conducted with these securities on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

After that, six NPFs — Ural FD, the Commercial and Industrial Pension Fund, the Cerikh Fund, the Mechel Fund, the Metallurgov NPF and the First National Pension Fund - bought unsecured bonds. As a result, they actually replaced their previous assets with them.

Thus, the Cerih fund, Izvestia sources note, replaced a portfolio of 100% shares of Sberbank, Aeroflot and OFZ bonds with dummy bonds. At the same time, according to the Central Bank's audit reports, the real market value of the securities acquired by Cerikh and the rest of the funds was "zero rubles" at the time of the transactions. Their issuers, as the investigation notes, actually represented technical companies.

Businessman Evgeny Novitsky in the Tverskoy courtroom

Photo: TASS/Moscow courts of general jurisdiction

As a result, all six NPFs went bankrupt, and about 500,000 of their clients lost their retirement savings.

To compensate for the losses, the Central Bank was forced to reimburse part of the funds. After the new charges were filed, the total damage in the case also increased — now the investigation estimates it at 9.64 billion rubles.

The police charge Sergei Vasiliev, Konstantin Bayrit, Evgeny Novitsky and Viktor Khoroshavtsev with the creation and management of the OPS (Part 1 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code), and Oleg Mezentsev and Olga Illarionova with participating in it using their official position (Part 3 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code).

The State Deposit Insurance Agency (GK DIA) has been recognized as a victim. 64% of the shares of PJSC Seligdar, real estate and other property of the accused were also seized, including a monument to Alexander I at Sergei Vasiliev's estate in the village of Volosovo, his Rolls—Royce Ghost and Moskvich-2141 produced in 1992, as well as Konstantin Bayrit's Bentley Flying Spur. None of the defendants pleads guilty.

The DIA Civil Code reported that the NPFs mentioned in the materials have the status of victims and civil plaintiffs. The agency declined to comment in detail, referring to the Criminal Procedure Code.

What threatens the defendants

As Nikos Paraskevov, managing partner of the Business Legal Group Bar Association, noted, the investigation often brings charges under art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko

"But the sheer scale of the case, the number of episodes and participants, does not mean that we are talking about OPS," the lawyer added.

According to him, the Supreme Court distinguishes a criminal community from an ordinary organized group by a more complex structure and a common goal — to commit serious or especially serious crimes for material gain. Under the new article, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.