Ex-CEO of major Russian investment group accused of fraud

The former president of the AFK Sistema investment company, Evgeny Novitsky, has been ordered to stay in house arrest until August 20 by a Moscow court. Accused of engaging in large-scale fraud related to an alleged attempt to misappropriate funds from a now-defunct private pension fund, Novitsky, along with accomplices, is said to have devised a scheme to illegally obtain money from the 'Ural FD' private pension fund through supposed security purchases on the stock market. Ural FD, which terminated its operations in 2016, had approximately 19,000 clients, with entrusted pension savings and reserves amounting to 890 million rubles and 117 million rubles respectively. Oleg Mezentsev, involved in securities administration, and Olga Illarionova have also been placed under house arrest in connection with this case. Mezentsev is accused of fraud, while Illarionova is accused of a premeditated contract breach. In a separate development, Novitsky might be associated with another fraud investigation, where businessman Aleksey Taicher, the former owner of Transfin-M leasing company, is accused of entering into fake loan agreements, leading to a damage of at least 710 million rubles.

At 66, Novitsky was part of AFK Sistema since 1995, holding the position of president from 1997 to 2005 and also serving as a board member until 2013. Additionally, he held prominent positions at a leading Russian fertilizer manufacturer, PhosAgro, and several defense industry companies. AFK Sistema, headquartered in Moscow, is a major Russian investment conglomerate with various subsidiary firms across industries such as banking, e-commerce, healthcare, IT, telecommunications, and media, employing a substantial workforce as of 2020.
Emily Johnson contributed to this report for TROIB News