The ex-finirector of Rolf went to prison for 8.5 years for buying out Rolf Estate from the offshore of the owner of the car dealer Petrov at an inflated valuation

The Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow issued a guilty verdict in the so-called “Rolf” case regarding the transfer of 4 billion rubles abroad. Judge Evgeny Filimonov found Anatoly Kairo, director of the business development department of the Rolf auto dealer holding, guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (committing currency transactions to transfer funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents on an especially large scale as part of an organized group) and sentenced him to eight years and six months of imprisonment in a general correctional colony mode. In addition, according to the verdict, Kairo was given a fine of 500,000 rubles.

“Kommersant”, 09/01/2023, “Let’s go to prison”: The sentence came as a complete surprise to the convict. After the judge finished reading it, Anatoly Kairo just stood there for a while, shocked by what had happened. And when one of the journalists asked him whether he expected such a period, he could only shake his head negatively. […]

The investigation considers the founder of Rolf, ex-State Duma deputy Sergei Petrov, to be the organizer of the scam. He was also the owner of all three companies that participated in the operation, and the money, as follows from the case materials, ended up in his accounts. At the time of the transaction, Anatoly Cairo held several positions: he was on 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. — Insert K.ru

Cairo’s defense considers the sentence unfounded and illegal. “We will definitely appeal,” lawyer Anton Gusev told Vedomosti. After the announcement, the top manager himself asked to tell his close people that he loves them. Immediately after the announcement, Cairo was taken into custody and handcuffed in the courtroom. Prior to sentencing, the defendant was prohibited from certain activities.

During the debate between the parties, the state prosecutor requested a sentence of nine years in prison. Cairo, making his final plea on August 21, insisted that his defense had succeeded in proving the fairness of the share purchase deal in the trial. “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.

Izvestia.Ru, 08.18.2023, “Telephone verdict: a wiretap appeared in the case of the top manager of Rolf”: Data on the recording of telephone conversations of Rolf founder Sergei Petrov was presented to the court by the state prosecution during the debate in the case of the car dealer’s top manager Anatoly Kairo. […] From the contents 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 Cairo’s lawyers asked the court not to take this evidence into account when sentencing. They indicated that at the time the conversations were recorded, Sergei Petrov was a State Duma deputy and had immunity.

“Tapping and surveillance of Petrov could only be carried out with appropriate permission from the State Duma or deprivation of Petrov’s immunity, but there is no information about this in the case materials,” said the defendant’s lawyer. — Insert K.ru

The trial on the merits in the Cheryomushkinsky Court of Moscow 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 person of the four who was in Russia at that time.

It follows from the indictment that in 2014, the founder of Rolf Sergei Petrov, the former general director of the company Tatyana Lukovetskaya, the director of the Cyprus company Panabel Limited Georgiy Kafkalia and Kairo, as part of a group with other unidentified accomplices, organized the illegal transfer of funds received from commercial activities car dealer. The funds were transferred to the accounts of Panabel Limited using a false purchase and sale agreement from a Cypriot enterprise for shares of the Rolf Estate companies at an inflated value of almost 4 billion rubles. After which the money, according to investigators, was transferred to an Austrian bank. Initially, the investigation estimated the real value of all Moscow dealership centers 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 such a risk when purchasing a company.

From the moment of his arrest until August 2021, Cairo was under house arrest. After giving evidence, his preventive measure was reduced to prohibit certain actions.

Petrov, Lukovetskaya and Kafkalia were 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 transferring ₽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. — Insert K.ru

All defendants were charged under Part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (conducting foreign exchange transactions involving the transfer of funds in foreign currency or the currency of the Russian Federation to the accounts of non-residents using forged documents on an especially large scale as part of an organized group).

Petrov denied all the accusations and connected the case with an attempted raider takeover of the company and with his political position. As a State Duma deputy from A Just Russia in 2007–2016, he voted against a number of high-profile bills, such as the ban on the adoption of Russian children by foreigners and the Yarovaya package, and financed some opposition politicians. As for the transaction for which he became involved in the case, according to the company, it was real, and its amount was determined based on market valuation.

Before the pandemic, the sale of Rolf was widely discussed. Petrov himself announced plans to sell Rolf. “Sell Offers” [бизнес]“are received every day <...> I cannot exclude that someone is trying to make money from this,” said the founder of the company after searches of the offices in November 2019. The Cyprus company Delance Limited, controlled by the businessman’s family, will sell the Rolf car dealer “to one buyer, Petrov said a few days after the publication of the possible sale of the company.

But at the end of January 2021, Rolf CEO Svetlana Vinogradova said that the owner had changed his mind about selling his business. According to her, negotiations for the sale were stopped at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This information was confirmed by the company’s press service.

On December 13, 2021, Rolf and car dealer Klyuchavto signed legally binding documents. It was assumed that Rolf and its subsidiaries would be consolidated within the united SBSV-Klyuchavto group by the end of the first quarter of 2022. On April 20, 2022, Rolf development director Vladimir Miroshnikov said at the convention of the Russian Association of Auto Dealers (RoAD) that the deal is “on pause”.

Rolf is the largest Russian car dealer based on the results of 2020, according to data from the industry portal Autobusiness Review. In 2020, Rolf sold almost 80,000 new cars (-13% year-on-year) and 65,600 used cars (-4% year-on-year). The company’s net profit under IFRS in 2020 increased more than 10 times compared to 2019 and reached RUB 8.93 billion.