The Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow issued a guilty verdict in the so-called “Rolf” case of withdrawal abroad of 4 billion rubles. Judge Yevgeny Filimonov found Anatoly Kairo, director of the business development department of the Rolf car dealer holding, guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (currency transactions for the transfer of funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents in an especially large amount as part of an organized group) and sentenced him to eight years and six months in prison in a general correctional colony mode. In addition, according to the verdict, Cairo was fined 500,000 rubles.
“Kommersant”, 09/01/2023, “Let’s go to prison”: The verdict for the convict was a complete surprise. After the judge finished reading it, Anatoly Kairo just stood for some time, shocked by what had happened. And when one of the journalists asked him if he expected such a term, he could only shake his head negatively. […]
The investigation considers the organizer of the scam to be the founder of Rolf, ex-deputy of the State Duma Sergei Petrov. He was also the owner of all three firms that participated in the operation, and the money, as follows from the case file, ended up in his accounts. Anatoly Kairo at the time of the transaction held several positions: he was a member of the board of directors of Rolf, was its financial director, as well as the general director and the second participant in the operation, Rolf Estate. — Inset K.ru
Kairo’s defense considers the sentence unreasonable and illegal. “We will definitely appeal,” lawyer Anton Gusev told Vedomosti. The top manager himself, after the announcement, asked to tell close people that he loves them. Immediately after the announcement, Cairo was taken into custody, handcuffed in the courtroom. Prior to sentencing, the defendant was prohibited from certain activities.
During the debate of the parties, the public prosecutor requested a sentence of nine years in prison for him. Cairo, speaking in his last word on August 21, insisted that his defense in the process managed to prove the honesty of the deal to buy shares. “I am grateful to the court for the opportunity to show the public that both IO Rolf and CJSC Rolf developed and paid taxes. For decades, they made transactions despite common participants, and published shares and information about common owners, ”he said.
Izvestiya.Ru, 08/18/2023, “Telephone verdict: wiretapping appeared in the case of Rolf’s top manager”: Data on the recording of telephone conversations of the founder of “Rolf” Sergei Petrov was presented to the court by the state prosecution during the debate on the case of the top manager of the car dealer Anatoly Kairo. […] From the content of the audio recordings, it follows that Petrov “in a relaxed manner” discussed with business partners the transfer of the company’s revenue abroad. It was planned that these funds would be further invested in foreign organizations. Anatoly Kairo’s lawyers asked the court not to take this evidence into account when sentencing. They pointed out that at the time of recording the conversations, Sergei Petrov was a State Duma deputy and had immunity.
– Wiretapping and surveillance of Petrov could be carried out only with the appropriate permission of the State Duma or the deprivation of Petrov’s immunity, and there is no information about this in the case file, – said the defendant’s lawyer. — Inset K.ru
The trial on the merits in Moscow’s Cheryomushkinsky Court began in June 2021, two years after Kairo’s arrest. The criminal case was initiated on June 25, 2019 by the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Kairo was the only identified defendant of the four, who at that time was in Russia.
It follows from the indictment that in 2014 the founder of Rolf Sergey Petrov, former CEO of the company Tatyana Lukovetskaya, director of the Cypriot company Panabel Limited Georgy Kafkalia and Kairo, as part of a group with other unidentified accomplices, organized an illegal transfer of funds received from the commercial activities of a car dealer. The funds were transferred to the accounts of Panabel Limited using a forged sale and purchase agreement from a Cypriot enterprise for shares in Rolf Estate companies at an inflated value of almost 4 billion rubles. After that, the money, according to the investigation, was transferred to an Austrian bank. Initially, the investigation estimated the real value of all Moscow dealerships that were part of the company at 200 million rubles. The latest examination, the prosecutor noted, showed that the market value of the shares was only 1 ruble. The expert came to the conclusion that at the time of the sale in 2014, the balance sheet liabilities of Rolf Estate amounted to about 30 billion rubles. and no potential investor would take that risk in buying a company.
From the moment of detention until August 2021, Kairo was under house arrest. After testifying, he was given a mitigated preventive measure to prohibit certain actions.
Petrov, Lukovetskaya and Kafkalia arrested in absentia and are on the international wanted list.
RBC News Agency, 09/01/2023, “Rolf’s top manager received 8.5 years in the case of the withdrawal of ₽4 billion abroad”: […] Petrov is in Austria and has the citizenship of this country, Lukovetskaya lives in Spain, and Kafkalia has the citizenship of Cyprus. — Inset K.ru
All defendants were charged under Part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (currency transactions for the transfer of funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents in an especially large amount as part of an organized group).
Petrov denied all accusations and connected the case with an attempted raider takeover of the company and with his political position. He, being a member of the State Duma from A Just Russia in 2007-2016, voted against a number of high-profile bills, such as a ban on the adoption of Russian children by foreigners and the Yarovaya package, financed some opposition politicians. As for the transaction, due to which he became a defendant in the case, according to the company, it was real, and its amount was determined on the basis of a market assessment.
Before the start of the pandemic, the sale of Rolf was widely discussed. About plans to sell “Rolf” “Vedomosti” reported Petrov himself. “Offers” sell [бизнес]» arrive every day <...> I cannot rule out that someone is trying to make money on this, ”said the founder of the company after searches in offices in November 2019. The Cypriot company Delance Limited, controlled by the businessman’s family, will sell the Rolf car dealer to one buyer, Petrov said a few days later after the publication of a possible sale of the company.
But at the end of January 2021, the CEO of Rolf, Svetlana Vinogradova, announced that the owner had changed his mind about selling his business. According to her, negotiations on the sale were terminated at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This information confirmed to Vedomosti in the press office of the company.
On December 13, 2021, Rolf and the car dealer Klyuchavto signed legally binding documents. It was assumed that Rolf and its subsidiaries would be consolidated within the framework of the combined SBV-Klyuchavto group by the end of the first quarter of 2022. that the deal is on hold.
Rolf is the largest Russian car dealer in 2020, according to the AutobusinessReview industry portal. In 2020, Rolf sold almost 80,000 new cars (-13% yoy) and 65,600 used cars (-4% yoy). The company’s net profit under IFRS in 2020 increased by more than 10 times compared to 2019 and reached 8.93 billion rubles.
@Svoidanash, 09/01/2023 02:35 PM: What moral do we take away from such a decision? Even if the owner has time to escape, they will punish those from the environment who they can reach. — Inset K.ru