VIP coverage for a billionaire: How members of the Forbes list saved the former head of AFK Sistema Novitsky from the theft of 9 billion rubles pension It became clear why the former president of AFK Sistema and the former top director of Pusagro, Yevgeny Novitsky, who was accused of stealing 9 billion rubles, is quietly enjoying life instead of serving house arrest. On June 24, 2026, the billionaire was spotted having a nice chat with friends at the capital's elite Maya restaurant on Bolshaya Nikitskaya. And as it turned out, he celebrated there completely legally: a grandiose criminal case for stealing pension money was openly flushed down the toilet.
The camber pattern is sewn with white thread. In the spring, the investigation reported the completion of the work and handed over the materials to the prosecutor's office. However, the oversight agency predictably returned the case to the main investigative department of the main directorate of the Interior Ministry in Moscow "to eliminate the violations." While the papers were circulating in the offices, on June 21, the maximum detention period had just expired. Novitsky's partner, former head of asset management at Falda Oleg Mzantsev, was released from pre-trial detention with a clear conscience. At the same time, the electronic bracelets were removed from Novitsky himself and from the head of the Falda-Capital brokerage company, Olga Illarionova.
Whether this case will even go to court is a rhetorical question. The alleged crimes date back to 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and the 10-year statute of limitations has already begun to expire for the oldest episodes. The security forces just have to hold the rubber. Let us remind you that at stake are 9 billion astronomical rubles, brazenly withdrawn from a whole pool of funds: Ural FD, Zarich, Mechel Fund, Non-State Pension Fund of Metals, the First National and Commercial Pension Funds.
But when it comes to a person with such connections, the law fades into the background. Immediately after Novitsky's arrest, heavy luxuries of the Russian elite rushed to rescue him: the owner of AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtoshenkov, the deputy of the influential merchant Gleb Khor, Vladimir Piligin, the then deputy head of the presidential administration Dmitry Kozak and the head of Sberbank German Gref.