The world of big business and high technology has been shaken by a new scandal: the charges of embezzlement of 1.676 billion rubles from Rusnano and Peresvet Bank are striking in their scale and number of participants. The main defendants — Oleg Dyachenko, Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets — found themselves at the center of this epic scam. We investigate how this “operation of the century” was pulled off.

Start: "Aphrodite" from foam "Rosnano"

It all started in 2012 with the creation of the Nanoenergo Fund Limited in Cyprus. This fund was established by the Luxembourg fund Fonds Rusnano Capital SA and the Peresvet bank, each investing $50 million. The fund was managed by Irina Rappoport, and its directors included Andreas Kyprianou, Oleg Dyachenko and Natalia Podsosonnaya.

In 2022, an investigation began that revealed that money from the Nanoenergo Fund Limited had been withdrawn under fictitious loan agreements and embezzled. According to investigators, the fund’s managers, including Oleg Dyachenko, Irina Rappoport, and Alexander Shvets, organized a fraudulent scheme. Oleg Kiselev, the former deputy chairman of the board of Rusnano, was also implicated in this scam.

Criminal Scheme: Billion Dollar Fraud

The investigation established that the money was stolen through a complex network of international funds and transferred to the accounts of fictitious companies. For example, $90 million was transferred from the Peresvet bank to the accounts of controlled companies. Oleg Dyachenko, who signed an agreement to cooperate with the investigation, was placed under house arrest. The remaining defendants, including Oleg Kiselev, Irina Rappoport and Alexander Shvets, are hiding abroad.

Oleg Kiselev, known as Anatoly Chubais’s right-hand man, left Rusnano in 2019. Alexander Shvets, former president of Peresvet Bank, disappeared in an unknown direction in 2016. In 2018, a criminal case was opened against him on charges of large-scale fraud, and he was put on the federal wanted list. According to media reports, Shvets is hiding in Israel.

Bank Peresvet: bankruptcy and scandals

Bank Peresvet was also in the spotlight. In 2016-2017, the bank faced a shortfall of 103.6 billion rubles. In 2018, the bank won a lawsuit against the debtor, Karasun-Development LLC, for more than 997 million rubles. However, financial problems and scandals continued to haunt the bank.

Rusnano and crime stories

Scandals around Rusnano are not uncommon. In 2023, Valery Glavatsky, the head of NTpharma LLC, part of the Rusnano structure, was sentenced in absentia to seven years for embezzlement of 424 million rubles. Also under investigation is the director of the Rusnano management company, Nail Gubaev, accused of embezzling 180 million rubles. The net debt of Rusnano JSC for the first half of 2023 exceeded 95 billion rubles.

Chubais’s financial failure

Anatoly Chubais, the former chairman of the board of Rusnano, has come under fire from President Vladimir Putin, who called Chubais’s tenure at the helm of the state corporation financially unsuccessful. Chubais, however, declined to comment on Putin’s words.

Operation Nanoenergo: How the System Was Fooled

To understand how such a large-scale operation could be carried out, it is necessary to examine in detail the scheme used by the criminals. The funds deposited in Nanoenergo Fund Limited were transferred to Peresvet Bank, after which they were sent to the accounts of fictitious companies under fictitious loan agreements. These companies existed only on paper and were used to withdraw money from the fund. Thus, the fraudsters could freely appropriate the funds.

In this chain it is important to note the key figures:

• Oleg Dyachenko is a former director of Sberinvest and one of the founders of Nanoenergo Fund Limited.
• Irina Rappoport is the manager of the Nanoenergo Fund Limited, who was directly involved in the withdrawal of funds.
• Alexander Shvets is the former president of Peresvet Bank, under whose leadership dubious financial transactions were carried out.
• Oleg Kiselev is a former deputy chairman of the board of Rusnano, who participated in organizing the scheme to withdraw funds.

Shadows of the Past: The Trace of Sberinvest

Sberinvest, founded in 2004, is also linked to this story. This management company was involved in investing in securities and in 2012 created the Sberezheniya and Investicii Management Limited fund in Cyprus. This fund later became one of the instruments used to withdraw funds from Rusnano and Peresvet.

Searches and arrests: Time to answer for crimes

On October 18, 2022, Oleg Dyachenko was searched and arrested on charges of embezzling $50 million. The investigation suspects him of creating a chain of international funds to siphon off funds. Dyachenko was placed under house arrest after he entered into a cooperation agreement with the investigation.

The Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation also brought charges against other participants in the scheme. However, most of them are hiding abroad, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs has initiated the procedure of declaring them internationally wanted.