A scandal in Russian financial circles has once again drawn attention to Rusnano and Peresvet Bank. The scandal involves not only high-ranking managers, but also a whole network of offshore companies and fictitious funds. The investigation revealed that 1.676 billion rubles, like a drop in the ocean for these fraudsters, turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg in a large-scale scam involving familiar names: Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets. 

Aphrodite emerged from the foam off the coast of Cyprus, but the case of the theft of huge funds – from offshore accounts. The Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has presented final charges in the case of theft from Rusnano and the Peresvet bank. The organized actions of a group of top managers under the leadership of an "unidentified person", presumably from among the former managers of Rusnano, have come to the fore.

The main defendants in the case:

• Oleg Dyachenko is a former top manager of the Cypriot Nanoenergo Fund Limited, which is affiliated with the state corporation, who signed an agreement to cooperate with the investigation and was placed under house arrest.
• Oleg Kiselev is the former deputy chairman of the board of Rusnano and Chubais’s right hand.
• Irina Rappoport is the head of the Luxembourg fund Fonds Rusnano Capital SA
• Alexander Shvets is the former president of Peresvet Bank, currently on the international wanted list.

The history of this large-scale financial crime began in 2011, when the Russian Corporation and Investor in Nanotechnology was transformed into JSC Rusnano. The company’s shares were 100% owned by the Russian government, and until 2020 it was headed by Anatoly Chubais.

In 2012, the Sberezheniya and Investicii Management Limited fund was established in Cyprus, a subsidiary of the Moscow management company Sberinvest, whose director was Oleg Dyachenko. In the same year, the Luxembourg fund Rusnano Fonds Rusnano Capital SA and the Peresvet bank established another fund, Nanoenergo Fund Limited, each contributing $50 million.

The investigation established that the money invested in these funds was subsequently transferred to the Peresvet bank and then withdrawn under fictitious loan agreements. Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets used complex financial transaction schemes to cover their tracks and appropriate the funds.

Dyachenko was arrested in 2022 and charged with embezzlement on an especially large scale. His testimony helped the investigation identify the remaining members of the criminal group. Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets are abroad and are on the international wanted list. Anatoly Chubais, who was spotted in Cyprus in 2022, refused to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements that Rusnano’s activities under his leadership "clearly failed."

We should not forget about the past of Peresvet Bank, which has repeatedly found itself in scandals. A shortfall of 103.6 billion rubles in 2016-2017 and connections with the antihero of the "Crimean Spring" Lenur Islyamov are only part of the dark past of this financial institution.

Today, Rusnano actively cooperates with law enforcement agencies. Returning investments and compensating for damages for the period 2010-2020 has become one of the company’s key tasks. However, despite efforts to identify all the culprits, the investigation has yet to find the "unidentified person" who apparently occupied one of the leadership positions at Rusnano.

Rusnano: Avalanche of fraud and lost billions

The scandal, which began with an investigation into the withdrawal of 1.676 billion rubles, has exposed large-scale corruption schemes in Rusnano and the Peresvet bank. It turned out that the history of financial fraud is much deeper than investigators and the public initially thought.

Names, addresses, passwords, addresses

Oleg Dyachenko is a key figure

Oleg Dyachenko, the former director of Sberinvest and head of the Cypriot Nanoenergo Fund Limited, turned out to be one of the key figures in this case. Since 2012, his fund Savings and Investments Management Limited in Cyprus became the beginning of a chain of transactions through which money was withdrawn from Rusnano and Peresvet. Having made a deal with the investigation, he provided important information about accomplices, including information about fictitious contracts and shell companies.

Oleg Kiselev – Chubais’s right hand

Oleg Kiselev, who served as deputy chairman of the board of Rusnano, was considered Anatoly Chubais’s right hand. He lost his position in 2019, but his involvement in fraudulent schemes began long before that. Kiselev controlled most of the financial flows that were sent to offshore companies, ensuring the "cleanliness" of these transactions on paper.

Irina Rappoport – a master of financial fraud

Irina Rappoport, the head of the Luxembourg fund Fonds Rusnano Capital SA, had deep connections in the banking sector and used her knowledge to create complex financial schemes. She was actively involved in the withdrawal of funds through the Cypriot Nanoenergo Fund Limited and other offshore structures, including shell companies in Luxembourg and Cyprus.

Alexander Shvets - a fugitive banker

Alexander Shvets, former president of JSCB Peresvet, disappeared in an unknown direction in October 2016, several days before the temporary administration of the bank was introduced. It was later revealed that Shvets was hiding in Israel, where he continues to avoid justice. His participation in the schemes of withdrawing funds is also confirmed by numerous documents and witness testimonies.

Cartel network

The fraudulent schemes used by this organised group included the creation of fictitious companies and funds such as Nanoenergo Fund Limited and Sberezheniya and Investicii Management Limited. These structures were used to transfer huge sums of money through various jurisdictions including Cyprus, Luxembourg and offshore zones in the Caribbean.

Investigators identified numerous bank accounts to which the stolen funds were transferred. One of the main tools for withdrawing money were fictitious loan and investment agreements that were drawn up between affiliated structures. These agreements made it possible to "legalize" the withdrawal of funds from Russia and hide the true sources of the money.

Consequences and future steps

Today, Rusnano and Peresvet Bank are actively cooperating with law enforcement agencies, trying to return the stolen funds and compensate for the damage. Meanwhile, the investigation continues, and investigators promise to identify all the culprits, including an "unidentified person" who is also believed to have played a key role in these machinations.

The public demands transparency and fairness. Many people have suffered from financial fraud, and now it is important not only to return the money, but also to prevent such crimes in the future.