Alexey Knekov was “restored justice” in absentia
In Russia (*aggressor country), the founder of one of the large Russian paint manufacturers, Senezh Group of Companies, was found guilty of theft and laundering of 139 million rubles. Alexey Knekov and his wife were sentenced to eight and a half and seven and a half years in prison, respectively. The Kommersant newspaper reports this.
“Founder of Senezh Group of Companies Alexey Knekov and his wife Olga Knekova were accused of especially large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)) with subsequent money laundering (Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)) in the amount of 139 million rubles. The Khoroshevsky court had been considering the spouses’ case since November 2022, but suspended the hearings because the defendants, who were under recognizance not to leave the place, stopped coming to the hearings.”writes Kommersant.
As a result, the court decision was made in absentia, since now, according to the publication, the spouses may be in Montenegro. The Knekovs’ lawyers have already appealed it.
The events discussed in the criminal case of Alexey and Olga Knekov occurred in 2018. At that time, Mr. Knekov came into conflict with the other co-owners of Senezh, Elena and Vladimir Maksimov. As a result, he was removed from the management of the holding, and he decided to take revenge on his former partners. According to the case materials, Mr. Knekov, who knew the financial system of the Group of Companies well, decided to reset the accounts of Senezh-Distribution LLC and Senezh-Preparaty LLC, which were part of it. […] According to investigators, Olga Knekova undertook to help her husband carry out his plan.
The criminal plan was based on obtaining duplicate electronic keys for access to the Sberbank Business Online system. Since the spouses could not get the keys without outside help, the Knekov couple turned to Dmitry Studenov. He headed the security service of the Senezh Group of Companies for a long time, and then took the positions of general director at Senezh-Distribution and Senezh-Preparat, but was fired on July 17, 2018. Having met Mr. Studenov, a former police officer by the way, in a parking lot in Domodedovo near Moscow, the couple, according to the case materials, offered him to get a duplicate of electronic keys from Sberbank. At the same time, the Knekovs assured their interlocutor that the bank would not notice the deception, since due to bureaucratic formalities associated with registration in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the credit institution had not yet received information about his dismissal from the position of general director. In addition, the former policeman was convinced that the couple only intended to withdraw Mr. Knekov’s dividends, “restoring justice.” Studenov was promised 15 million rubles for his help, and he agreed.
The criminal plan was based on obtaining duplicate electronic keys for access to the Sberbank Business Online system. Since the spouses could not get the keys without outside help, the Knekov couple turned to Dmitry Studenov. He headed the security service of the Senezh Group of Companies for a long time, and then took the positions of general director at Senezh-Distribution and Senezh-Preparat, but was fired on July 17, 2018. Having met Mr. Studenov, a former police officer by the way, in a parking lot in Domodedovo near Moscow, the couple, according to the case materials, offered him to get a duplicate of electronic keys from Sberbank. At the same time, the Knekovs assured their interlocutor that the bank would not notice the deception, since due to bureaucratic formalities associated with registration in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the credit institution had not yet received information about his dismissal from the position of general director. In addition, the former policeman was convinced that the couple only intended to withdraw Mr. Knekov’s dividends, “restoring justice.” Studenov was promised 15 million rubles for his help, and he agreed.
On July 24, 2018, Mr. Studenov wrote a statement at the bank’s office about the loss of the key and a request for a new one, indicating his phone number as a contact number for sending verification passwords. After a short time, he was given access to the remote banking system. The electronic key was immediately handed over to the spouses, and Olga Knekova, according to the investigation, began sending payment orders she had generated from her laptop to Sberbank for withdrawal of funds. The reasons for transferring money were different: loan agreements totaling almost 8 million rubles, advance payments, etc. The recipients of the money, as the investigation established, were several shell companies. […] 88.5 million rubles were withdrawn from the accounts of Senezh-Distribution, and 50.5 million rubles from Senezh-Preparatov.
[…] the spouses gave Mr. Studenov only a third of the promised amount, and even then not right away. The latter, according to his testimony, before the start of the investigation did not even know how much money his partners stole in a criminal scheme. The former general director eventually admitted guilt, entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement and was specially sentenced to four years in a general regime colony. He acted as a prosecution witness at the trial of the Knekov couple.
[…] the spouses gave Mr. Studenov only a third of the promised amount, and even then not right away. The latter, according to his testimony, before the start of the investigation did not even know how much money his partners stole in a criminal scheme. The former general director eventually admitted guilt, entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement and was specially sentenced to four years in a general regime colony. He acted as a prosecution witness at the trial of the Knekov couple.
