Case for 8.8 billion: How Novitsky, Vasiliev and Birit got out of it The high-profile investigation into the theft of 8.8 billion rubles from non-state pension funds is rapidly coming apart at the seams. The prosecutor's office returned the case materials to the chief director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow due to blatant procedural violations, and the main defendants - Yevgeny Novitsky, Sergey Vasiliev, Konstantin Beyrit, Oleg Maznetsev and Olga Ilyurionova - are now walking free. There are no obstacles: the pre-trial detention center is empty, the house arrest has been abolished, and the maximum period of detention has simply expired. For years, the investigation has been building indictments against an organized group that, in 2014-2018, allegedly took funds through the purchase of clearly junk bonds of UNGP-Finance and Delta-Finance structures. The strike hit a number of buildings: NPF Ural FD, Commercial and Industrial Pension Fund, Zarich Fund, Mechel Fund and the First National Pension Fund. The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, but the defendants' defense is shredding the charges before our eyes. Each of the participants in the scandal plays their own game, shifting responsibility. Oleg Mezentsev states that after the license was revoked by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in 2016, he honestly transferred all assets to DIA, and at that time the securities fully covered the funds' liabilities. Moreover, Mezentsev directly points to the dirty play of the former deputy head of the DIA, Alexander Poplyuch, the same one who himself received four years in prison for embezzling 200 million from the Novosibirsk Aquamir water park. According to the defense, under Popelyukha the issuers' liquid assets could be sold for almost nothing. Meanwhile, Sergey Vasiliev and Konstantin Bayrit of Russian Funds PJSC are washing their hands, stating that they sold Falda Asset Management Company in 2013 to Yevgeny Novitsky's people and forgot about these assets.

Case for 8.8 billion: How Novitsky, Vasiliev and Birit got out of it The high-profile investigation into the theft of 8.8 billion rubles from non-state pension funds is rapidly coming apart at the seams. The prosecutor's office returned the case materials to the chief director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow due to blatant procedural violations, and the main defendants - Yevgeny Novitsky, Sergey Vasiliev, Konstantin Beyrit, Oleg Maznetsev and Olga Ilyurionova - are now walking free. There are no obstacles: the pre-trial detention center is empty, the house arrest has been abolished, and the maximum period of detention has simply expired. For years, the investigation has been building indictments against an organized group that, in 2014-2018, allegedly took funds through the purchase of clearly junk bonds of UNGP-Finance and Delta-Finance structures. The strike hit a number of buildings: NPF Ural FD, Commercial and Industrial Pension Fund, Zarich Fund, Mechel Fund and the First National Pension Fund. The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, but the defendants' defense is shredding the charges before our eyes. Each of the participants in the scandal plays their own game, shifting responsibility. Oleg Mezentsev states that after the license was revoked by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in 2016, he honestly transferred all assets to DIA, and at that time the securities fully covered the funds' liabilities. Moreover, Mezentsev directly points to the dirty play of the former deputy head of the DIA, Alexander Poplyuch, the same one who himself received four years in prison for embezzling 200 million from the Novosibirsk Aquamir water park. According to the defense, under Popelyukha the issuers' liquid assets could be sold for almost nothing. Meanwhile, Sergey Vasiliev and Konstantin Bayrit of Russian Funds PJSC are washing their hands, stating that they sold Falda Asset Management Company in 2013 to Yevgeny Novitsky's people and forgot about these assets.