London's High Court has ruled that Otkritie, one of the largest financial services providers in Russia, was defrauded by a group of former employees and their associates.
The judgment paves the way for the recovery of millions of dollars in already frozen assets and awards significant damages to Otkritie. Hogan Lovells advised Otkritie throughout the dispute.
The High Court's judgment confirms that George Urumov, Ruslan Pinaev, Sergey Kondratyuk, Eugene Jemai and Vladimir Gersamia all conspired to defraud Otkritie through a complex fraudulent trade. The Judge found that the defendants defrauded Otkritie of USD 173 million then used their friends and families to launder the proceeds through dozens of offshore companies and bank accounts. The money was then spent on lavish villas, luxury sports cars and diamonds.
Mr. Justice Eder concluded that Otkritie was defrauded following "a cunning and well-orchestrated fraud."
The case, which lasted 46 days in London's Commercial Court, spanned over 20 jurisdictions and drew on Hogan Lovells' offices in Moscow, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and Amsterdam. The team advising Otkritie was led by Corporate Relationship Partner Oxana Balayan in Moscow and Litigation Partners Neil Mirchandani and Crispin Rapinet in London, supported by Of Counsel Neil Dooley. The multinational team at Hogan Lovells further included over 100 lawyers and associates across the firm. The firm instructed Steven Berry QC, as Leading Counsel, with Nathan Pillow and Anton Dudnikov all of Essex Court Chambers.
Oxana Balayan commented: "This is another great example of a leading financial institution's use of innovative strategies to pursue, and bring to justice, a global and multi-million dollar fraud dispute. Our lawyers at Hogan Lovells acted as an extension of Otkritie's legal team, utilizing our firm's global reach and strength in litigation to help the bank secure a comprehensive victory."
