Former co-owner of Vneshprombank Georgy Bedzhamov, declared bankrupt in Russiareceived the same status in the UK. runaway banker lost on appeal to his financial manager from Russia. Declaring a businessman bankrupt in Britain will speed up the procedure for returning money to victims, the Deposit Insurance Agency expects
On October 27, the High Court of London declared the ex-co-owner of Vneshprombank Georgy Bedzhamov bankrupt in the UK. He was denied satisfaction of his appeal, Kommersant reports with reference to a representative of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA).
Bedzhamov was declared bankrupt in Britain in 2021, he filed an appeal. In early 2022, the case was sent back for retrial. In Russia, Bedzhamov was declared bankrupt in 2018. DIA General Director Andrey Melnikov noted that the new decision will allow the agency to “speed up the procedure for returning funds to the bankruptcy estate” to return the victims. At the beginning of September 2022, 24 billion rubles were formed in the bankruptcy estate of Vneshprombank, which is 10.3% of the current debt to creditors.
Bedzhamov is a fugitive banker, in Russia he was arrested in absentia in a case of fraud and embezzlement of money worth 113 billion rubles. His sister Larisa Markuswhich headed Vneshprombank, serving a real sentence of 8.5 years on the same matter. DIA acts as bankruptcy trustee of Vneshprombank. The Central Bank revoked the license from the bank in 2016. According to the DIA, the debt to creditors is almost 233.3 billion rubles, 7.7% has been paid.
The DIA first valued the found assets of Bedzhamov and Markus at $100 million in July 2021. In April 2021 Melnikov reported at the Forbes Bankruptcy Conferencethat the DIA at the end of 2020 entered into a settlement agreement with Markus on its assets in the US and Europe. Markus Melnikov did not name the amount of assets then. Interests of the DIA in the High Court of London represented by investment company A1 billionaire Mikhail Fridman and partners.
In January 2021, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow seized Bedzhamov’s house in London. In April 2021, the Moscow Arbitration Court, at the request of the financial manager of the bankruptcy process, Markus, attracted foreign brokers to sell property. As RBC wrote with reference to the materials of the courts and the New York real estate registry, Marcus owned, including apartments in Manhattan. In 2019 the High Court of London arrested Bedzhamov’s assets for up to £1.34 billion (about 95.5 billion rubles).
The key asset that can be realized is the rights to Bedzhamov’s investment project, according to which he received permission from the Westminster Council for the reconstruction of real estate in London, said Konstantin Karichev, managing partner at GRM law firm. In particular, these are two properties in London, valued at £35 million (2.147 billion rubles).
Denis Almakaev, head of international litigation practice at LEVEL Legal Services, noted that the timing of recovery and inclusion of money in the bankruptcy estate will greatly depend on the degree of resistance of Bedzhamov and persons controlled by him, and sanctions may not affect the recovery process. Karichev adds that if the proceeds go to a person on the sanctions lists, such collection will be prohibited, and the funds will remain frozen in the jurisdiction of the UK. The DIA is not under sanctions, so “there is still the prospect of receiving funds and settlements with bankruptcy creditors,” the lawyer noted.
“Kommersant”, 10/31/2022, “The banker did not escape bankruptcy”: The new solution is a direct way to launch the procedure for recovering already discovered assets, says Denis Almakaev, head of international litigation at LEVEL Legal Services. In practice, assets in which the bankrupt has direct ownership get faster. “It is much more difficult with indirect ownership, including trust assets, assets owned by the debtor of companies that may require separate litigation,” the lawyer explains. “With this decision, the financial manager also receives broad powers to search for new assets in the UK (the right to demand financial information, conduct interrogations, demand assistance, etc.) – powers comparable to those that English arbitration managers have. […]
According to Denis Almakaev, the terms for the recovery and inclusion of money in the bankruptcy estate will greatly depend on the degree of resistance of Georgy Bedzhamov and the persons controlled by him: “at best” it will be about months, but the process can be seriously stretched, because, as a rule, debtors actively challenge the actions of the manager. At the same time, the current restrictions, according to lawyers, will not affect the course of this case. As Denis Almakaev notes, “sanctions raise certain practical issues in relation to foreclosure” abroad. But they “are not insurmountable, especially when it comes to a bankruptcy trustee representing the interests of various, not only state, Russian creditors.” — Inset K.ru