Chronology: Georgy Bedzhamov Case

To mark the fiftieth entry in the CBIA Files: Georgy Bedzhamov investigation, we provide a brief summary of the case to date, highlighting three stages of this highly complex cross-border financial crime: the collapse of Russian bank Vneshprombank; the international pursuit of its director, Georgy Bedzhamov, including his arrest in Monaco and the fugitive’s consequent and continued residence in the United Kingdom.

2011–2015 Fraud of Vneshprombank

Georgy Ivanovich Bedzhamov and his sister, Larisa Markus, co-owners and presidents of then Russia’s fortieth-largest bank, are accused of defrauding the institution of approximately £2.5 billion between 2011 and 2015. Markus has been found guilty and is currently serving 8.5 years in prison, while Bedzhamov, also well known as the president of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation, fled Russia before the bank's license was revoked leading it to go bankrupt in January 2016.

As the investigation into the fraud proceeded, it was unearthed that over $50 million had been transferred to Bedzhamov between to 2012 and 2013 by a company based in Cyprus that was owned by a Vneshprombank vice president named Veronika Cheliabi.

CBIA has divulged many of the details of theoriginal crime, including discussion of some the high-profile clients left out of pocket by the multi-billion-pound fraud, including the Russian Orthodox Church.

2016 Arrest, Detention and Release in Monaco

Following the issuance of an international warrant in February, 2016, Bedzhamov was arrested in Monaco in April of that year. He was primarily held in detention before being transferred to a hospital under police control upon claiming to have cardiac issues that required surgical surgery. When Russia moved to formally demand extradition, Bedzhamov's attorneys contended that removal was improper due to his physical condition when Russia formally demanded extradition. In July of 2016, Monaco's Court of Appeal denied extradition, citing the "condition of Bedzhamov's health" as the main justification, which was later, in September of the same year, officially rejected by Prince Albert II of Monaco on the same health-related grounds.

By the time extradition to Russia was denied, Bedzhamov had already relocated from Monaco to London in June, three months before winning the extradition case. The CBIA Files provide full details of these movements across a number of publications, particularly this one.

2016–2024 Money, Mansions and a Megayacht

From his base in the UK, Bedzhamov continues to live as a free man, protect his assets and avoid extradition, almost entirely thanks to the UK’s legal system, where he has also claimed asylum.

The latest development in the case,that came to a head in May 2024,symbolises the ever-increasing complexity of international litigation particularly when dealing with Russian designated persons as regulated by theRussia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Seemingly in order to even further postpone and divert the immediate need to answer to the litigation fought against him by Vneshprombank, Bedzhamov applied to the UK courts to determine whether the company that has been funding that litigation were owned by designated persons, who would then not bein a position to use said funds.Thedesignated persons are three Russianoligarchs—namely Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Alexey Kuzmichev—who weresanctioned on 15 March, 2022, as a direct result of the invasion of Ukraine. Bedzhamov claimed the sale ofthe company funding the litigation,A1 LLC, by these men toone of their long-term employees at a nominal ‘sham’ value was an apparent way to bypass sanctions.CBIA covered this story in depth here.

Even though living under a Worldwide Freezing Order, Bedzahmov lives a lavish lifestyle in London, wherehis livingallowance has been incremented to £240,000 a month; it was not until 2022 that his $90-million yacht was seized; meanwhile the London mansion house he has lived in during most of this period is currently worth £110 million, although he was allowed to sell it in 2022 for £35 Million.[1]

The case continues . . .

Sources

[1] Sam Tobin, ‘Russian can sell Belgravia mansion to fund legal fees’, The Law Society Gazette, May 25, 2022

[2[ Royal Courts of Justice, ‘Vneshprombank v Bedzhamov, Kireeva v Bedzhamov’, judiciary.uk, 3 May 2024.