The home of JFC CEO, Vladimir Kekhman has been searched as part of a fraud case, Russian media reported on Friday. Kekhman holds the majority stake in JFC, the largest fruit importer in Russia.
Investigators from the Interior Ministry’s St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Department have also searched the company’s offices and warehouses on Thursday.
“In 2010-2012, a group of JFC executives and shareholders obtained large loans from several major banks to fulfill contracts with nonexistent commercial firms and affiliates. In February 2012, JFC’s management filed for bankruptcy with a commercial court, so as not to pay back these loans,” the investigators said.
The damages done to the company’s creditors are estimated at over 10 billion rubles (over $331 million), they said.
A criminal case was opened after a complaint was filed by the company’s primary creditors, including Sberbank, Bank of Moscow, Raiffeisen, and Uralsib, a source at the Interior Ministry told Vedomosti.
A Sberbank representative confirmed the filing of the complaint with the ministry and estimated JFC’s total debt at roughly 6 billion rubles (over $198 million).
Other creditors refused to comment. Kekhman did not respond to a Vedomosti request for information.
Source: www.freshplaza.com