The Tverskoy Court of Moscow, as part of the investigation of a criminal case on major fraud, initiated absentee arrest German citizen Fabian Kroycher, who is a co-founder and CEO of the Bryanston Group, a leading natural resources consulting and investment company. As TASS was reminded in the press service of the court, the German businessman was put on the international wanted list.
“According to the decision of the Tverskoy District Court of the city of Moscow, a measure of restraint in the form of detention was chosen in absentia against the accused Kroycher F. for a period of two months from the moment of his detention on the territory of the Russian Federation or from the moment of transfer of the latter to law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation in case of extradition or deportation to the territory of the Russian Federation or the moment of detention of Kroycher F. on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
Kroycher was charged with committing a crime under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud). He is a defendant in a criminal case on the embezzlement and sale of a controlling stake in the Russian company Brainston. We are talking about the CEO of Singular CIS Ralph Novak, who has citizenship of Russia and Germany, and the investment director of the Swiss fund Winterberg Group Ilmar Azmukhanov, who were arrested earlier in this case.
Kommersant.Ru, 08/24/2022, “German businessman arrested in absentia”: According to Kommersant’s data, Fabian Kroycher, who lives in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, became the third defendant in the case of the theft of 52.4% of the shares of the Cypriot BelkaCar Ltd and a controlling stake in the Russian company Brainston. […] The investigation considers Mr. Kroycher one of the active participants in the theft of shares of a large Russian car-sharing company BelkaCar. […]
It is worth noting that Fabian Kroycher, in addition to his position in the Bryanston Group, is a senior partner of Singular СIS and is a member of the Supervisory Board of the German Metalshub. He is also a former business partner of businessman Benedikt Sobotka, who was recognized as a victim in this case. […] As part of interim measures at the insistence of the investigation, 100% of the shares of the BelkaCar management company were arrested, the ban is still in effect. The arrested defendants plead not guilty.
It is also worth noting that shortly before the arrest in absentia, Fabian Kreicher was put on the international wanted list. And after the decision of the Tverskoy Court, the investigation can send documents to Interpol to place the businessman’s data in the search base of the organization. — Inset K.ru
According to the newspaper “Kommersant”, which refers to the data of the investigation, Novak and Azmukhanov are involved in the illegal sale of 52.47% of the shares of one of the largest Russian car-sharing companies – BelkaCar Ltd. The second episode is being investigated for similar actions in respect of a controlling stake in the Russian company “Bryanston”. The victims of both episodes are the German investor Benedikt Sobotka, and the total damage in the case is estimated at 47 million euros, the newspaper writes.
The case was opened on September 22, 2021. Kommersant claims that, according to the plot of the case, the Brownston company managed the Russian assets of Sobotka, and the investor himself at one time also held a controlling stake in BelkaCar, but then lost his shares and, in this regard, has been litigating for several years. Novak and Azmukhanov are also accused of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
“Kommersant”, 04/13/2022, “Deals with shares turned out to be arrest”: After the arrest, both defendants were arrested for two months, and Mr. Novak was initially placed under house arrest, but was soon placed in a pre-trial detention center. Investment manager Novak, according to investigators, was the organizer of the embezzlement, and financier Azmukhanov was the executor of the plan he developed.
In 2017, the GSU police are sure that Mr. Novak and his assistant colluded with unidentified persons from the management of the Cypriot offshore BelkaCar Ltd. in 2017. This company is the sole owner of the Russian JSC “Carsharing”, which acts as the management company of BelkaCar. As a result, the accomplices of Mr. Novak and Azmukhanov, who have “organizational and administrative powers”, together with them, having deceived Mr. Sobotka, sold 35.5 thousand shares of the Cypriot offshore behind his back, the police are sure. The buyer of the stolen shares was the Swiss Bryanston Resources AG controlled by the conspirators. At the same time, the investigation is confident that the transaction was fictitious, as it occurred without payment for the securities. And practically in parallel with it, it follows from the case, under the leadership of Mr. Novak, 50% of the shares of the Russian “Brienston”, owned by Mr. Sobotka, were also stolen. The investigation estimates the stolen securities of the Russian company at €2.1 million, and the total damage in the case is €47 million, or more than 4 billion rubles. at the time of filing a claim from the victim. — Inset K.ru
According to data from open sources, the Bryanston Group has a network of representative offices and partner companies around the world: London, Zug, Munich, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Lagos, Moscow, Shanghai, Delhi. The company offers its clients tailor-made consulting and core investment services in the field of mineral and mining, oil and gas assets, as well as mining technologies.
IA “RBC”, 08/10/2022, “The Ministry of Internal Affairs asked to arrest the director of the former BelkaCar majority shareholder in absentia”: In 2019, BelkaCar car sharing changed its main owner – it became Coneplace Limited, a subsidiary of BMT Private Equity, created by the founder of VimpelCom (Beeline brand) Dmitry Zimin. — Inset K.ru
