The court terminated the criminal case against Vyacheslav Kuzin, co-owner of Commercial Volga Social Bank LLC (VSB), due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution. The banker was charged with fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the investigation, Vyacheslav Kuzin, being in collusion with the chairman of the board of the VSB and “unidentified persons”, participated in the theft of the bank’s money by concluding fictitious loan agreements. The damage to the bank was estimated at almost 1.7 million rubles. Experts note that Vyacheslav Kuzin is not released from the obligation to compensate for the damage caused to him.
The Leninsky District Court of Samara terminated the criminal case against the co-owner of LLC Commercial Volzhsky Social Bank (VSB), 63-year-old Vyacheslav Kuzin, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution (clause 3, part 1, article 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). This was reported to Kommersant in court. In February of this year, it became known that the banker was charged with fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, in 2012, Vyacheslav Kuzin, who served as chairman of the Supervisory Board of the VSB, participated in the withdrawal of the bank’s assets. “The chairman of the supervisory board of VSB LLC, acting as part of a group of persons by prior agreement, together with the chairman of the board and unidentified persons, participated in organizing the theft of the bank’s funds by concluding fictitious loan agreements with individuals,” the prosecutor’s office said. The position of Chairman of the Board was held by Valery Kuchkanov. The investigation found that the bankers entered into fictitious loan agreements with three citizens who were not aware of this. The damage was estimated by the investigation at 1.681 million rubles. Vyacheslav Kuzin pleaded not guilty.
• OOO VSB was registered in 1993 in Samara. The bank specialized in lending to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as individuals. According to banki.ru, the owners of the organization are Vyacheslav Kuzin (51.02%), Margarita Andrianova (18.11%), the late Valery Kuchkanov (16.89%), Evgeny Abibulaev (12.24%) and Evgeny Shilov (1 .73%).
Valery Kuchkanov died in November 2013. The body of a man with a gunshot wound to the head was discovered by his wife in their own home. After the death of Valery Kuchkanov, the administration of the Volga Social Bank published a statement on the organization’s website that the work of the VSB would not be affected by the incident. In December of the same year, the Central Bank revoked the bank’s license. According to the regulator, VSB pursued a high-risk policy for the placement of attracted funds, as a result of the formation of adequate reserves for low-quality assets, VSB LLC completely lost its own funds. In addition, due to the loss of liquidity, the credit institution did not ensure the timely fulfillment of obligations to creditors and depositors. According to the latest data from the Deposit Insurance Agency, the total amount of claims of creditors of the Volga Social Bank exceeds 4.6 billion rubles. During the period of bankruptcy proceedings, it was possible to return 1 billion rubles. After the collapse of the bank against Valery Kuchkanov, a criminal case of fraud on an especially large scale was also investigated. Now the case is under consideration by the Leninsky District Court. The co-owner of the bank is posthumously charged with two episodes of fraud for a total amount of 2 billion rubles.
As Dmitry Gorbunov, a partner at Rustam Kurmaev & Partners, explains, termination of a case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations is a non-rehabilitating ground. According to Dmitry Gorbunov, it is understood that the crime took place, but guilt is not established in the decision to dismiss the case.
Natalya Glebova, a member of the Russian Bar Association, notes that Vyacheslav Kuzin is not released from the obligation to compensate for the damage caused to him: “The victim has the opportunity to protect his rights and interests in civil proceedings. At the same time, the court, considering such a claim, must take into account the data of the preliminary investigation in the criminal case as evidence and evaluate them along with others. In addition, the victim has the opportunity to apply to the court for the award of compensation for violation of the right to legal proceedings within a reasonable time.”
