The investigative department of the Ministry of the Interior initiated a new case concerning the former leadership of the Bank of Moscow (BM). The investigation was brought about by the appeal of Mikhail Kuzovlev, Bank of Moscow President, against Aleksey Anichin, former head of a police investigation at the Ministry of the Interior. The banker drew law enforcers’ attention to the illegal, in his view, assets withdrawal deals concluded by the previous leadership of the bank. After the corresponding checks it was decided to initiate a new case, separate from the main one (№ 89 816) about the bank granting an unsecured loan of 12.76 billion rubles to Premier Estate CJSC.

The new investigation, say the investigators, is conducted with regard to Dmitry Zhukevich, general director of Financial Assistant, over Article 165 Part 3 of the Criminal Code ("Causing property damage"). 

Zhukevich’s company (a subsidiary of BM) has sold two shares of Capital Insurance Group (SSG) out of the 25-percent package owned by the bank. First, the shares were sold at face value a Cyprus offshore company Billiton Ltd. The deal was worth 2.4 thousand rubles and it was Aleksey Sterlikov, member of the board of directors of the Bank of Moscow and first counsel to Andrey Borodin, the then president of the bank, who represented the interest of the buyer. 
At the end of March 2011, when the bank had new shareholders and managers, Maksim Shepelev, vice-president of SSG, and Aleksey Sterlikov terminated the contract on the grounds of the seller’s default on terms and conditions. After that Sterlikov sold the same shares to Marvil management, registered in the Virgin Islands. 

As a result of this transaction, BM and the Moscow government lost a controlling stake in the insurance company. According to the investigative department of the Ministry of the Interior, thus "the bank had suffered losses in the form of reduced market value of shares worth 1.7 billion rubles, which is a considered to be loss in large amount". 

Investigators hope to prove that the sale of shares of the insurance company was a planned one deliberately aimed at the withdrawal of bank assets. Law enforcers do not exclude that during the case investigation it may arise may that there are other people involved. 

This is the third criminal case involving former managers and employees of the bank. "As part of protecting their financial interests related to the sale of shares of SSG, the bank has repeatedly appealed to the investigating authorities”, says the press service of the BM. “We welcome any action to restore justice".