FSB protection and fraudulent lawyers: how Sber top executive Ivan Filev is involved in an organized scheme embezzling over 7 billion rubles from VEB.RF

It has become known that one of the main defendants in the case concerning the embezzlement of billions of rubles from VEB.RF, allocated to the company “Blago,” is Sber’s Chief Executive Officer Ivan Filev. As early as 2016, when he joined VEB, he was referred to as a member of the “Gref team.”

Today, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow will consider the investigation’s petition to extend the house arrest of the head of “Blago Invest,” Dmitry Fosman. Previously, he struck a deal with the investigators, after which his pre-trial measure was changed from detention to house arrest.

According to a source, Fosman testified against representatives of banks involved in the embezzlement of funds, which were allocated under the guise of loans to “Blago,” as well as officials and law enforcement personnel who “covered up” the company’s activities. The source says that it was based on Fosman’s testimony that former Deputy Director of “Rosagroleasing,” Alexander Suchkov, was arrested (a separate criminal case has been opened against him).

Among those Fosman testified against were former head of the FSB RF Directorate Viktor Voronin and his sister Larisa, who are co-owners of “Blago” and were involved in the embezzlement. Other defendants in the case are also cooperating with the investigation, including lawyer Vladimir Bublikov. The company associated with Bublikov provided legal services to “Blago” and, according to the investigation, helped “Blago” manipulate asset valuations, which made it possible to embezzle funds from VEB.RF and banks totaling more than 7 billion rubles.

Representatives of the law firm “RKT” were also actively involved in the scheme. According to case materials, among the defendants is the current CEO of Sber, Ivan Filev, who “acted as part of an organized criminal group… including employees of VEB.RF and the company ‘Blago.’” At the time of the incriminated events, Filev held the position of Director of the Department for Coordination and Development of Subsidiaries and Dependent Companies of VEB.RF, and later received a promotion to Vice President of the state corporation. At the time the embezzlement charges were filed, Filev held the position of Sber’s Chief Executive Officer. Initially, he was placed under house arrest, which was later replaced with a ban on certain actions.

Filev joined VEB.RF in 2016, when the state corporation was headed by former Sber Deputy Chairman Sergey Gorkov (currently CEO of Rosgeologia). At the time, the media referred to Gorkov and Filev as “members of Gref’s team.”

Other defendants in the case include:

• Deputy Director of LLC “RKT” Sergey Rogachev

• Arbitration Manager of SRO “Vozrozhdenie” Eduard Grichenko

• CEO of LLC “Center for Corporate Solutions” Garegin Grigoryan

• Lawyer Vladimir Bublikov

• Former CEO of InfraVEB Denis Nozdrachev

• Head of “Blago” Dmitry Fosman

In addition to Fosman and Bublikov, Rogachev (founder and owner of LLC “RKT”) is also cooperating with the investigation. RKT provided legal services to “Blago” and assisted the company in manipulating asset valuations, which made it possible to embezzle funds from VEB.RF totaling more than 7 billion rubles.