MOSCOW (Reuters) – A former senior manager at the Russian car dealership Rolf has been sentenced to 8-1/2 years in prison by a Moscow court for involvement in an illegal transfer of funds abroad, the court announced.
Anatoly Kairo, who served as Rolf’s director of business development, was found guilty of sending significant sums of money abroad using forged documents as part of an organized group, according to the Cheremushki district court.
In 2014, the Russian Investigative Committee launched an investigation into Rolf, alleging that the company had unlawfully purchased shares in one of its subsidiary companies based in Russia at an inflated price. The funds for these shares were purportedly transferred to the account of a Cypriot company in an Austrian bank.
The Committee also issued arrest warrants for Rolf’s founder, former lawmaker Sergei Petrov, and several other company managers. However, they have not been located.
Petrov, who holds Austrian citizenship and was in Austria at the time, vigorously denied all allegations.
Occasionally, Petrov has openly criticized conducting business in Russia and suggested in 2019 that the investigation against him might be politically motivated.
According to Russian media, Kairo, who was apprehended in the courtroom on Friday, is a Ukrainian citizen.
Petrov and Kairo’s lawyers have yet to respond to emailed inquiries.
In 2021, Rolf, which was once the largest car dealership in Russia, was acquired by its competitor Klyuchavto.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
