Deputy director general of the state-owned bank deposits insurance agency Valery Miroshnikov is interviewed in his office in 2004.
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Studies Criminal Banking Schemes
The toughening up of the battle against crime in the banking sector will begin with eliminating ignorance of economic matters among crime fighters. Kommersant has learned of a project being carried out by Russian law-enforcement agencies to expose criminal bankruptcy in credit organizations.
The project, which is entitled "Methods of Uncovering Signs of Criminal Bankruptcy and Associated Crimes During the Competitive Production and Elimination of Credit Organizations, Motivated by Initial Material for Criminal Cases Collected by the Agency for Deposit Insurance and in Cooperation in Investigations with Law-Enforcement Organs," is underwritten by the Russian Interior Ministry (MVD) and the Union of Criminal Investigators of Russia, with the participation of the Agency for Deposit Insurance (ASB). The project is being presented as a textbook for officials in law-enforcement agencies who deal with unraveling criminal schemes used by bankers and methods of uncovering such schemes. In the near future, the MVD and the ASB plan to sign a cooperation agreement and to work out plans for collaborative tactics and the exchange of information.
This is the first time that the MVD has officially gotten involved in the fight against criminal bankruptcy, and the textbook takes that into account by providing detailed descriptions of the schemes that bankers use. These include withdrawing assets in exchange for promissory notes, indulging in risky credit practices, and appropriating bank funds for personal use. "Financial instruments such as promissory notes are often used in criminal banking schemes, especially to withdraw funds from the bank," notes Karen Martirosov, a manager at Paveletsky Bank. "If a bankrupt bank has a large portfolio of promissory notes among its assets, that is evidence that its assets have most likely been expropriated."
Investigating such schemes and proving the guilt of bankers is difficult, however, given the volume of specialized documentation used and the lack of suitably qualified personnel in the law-enforcement agencies. Unlike in some economic crimes, such as tax evasion, the objective lines between legal and illegal in banking schemes are less clearly drawn. Thus, the agencies have great hopes for the partnership with the ASB and the Central Bank. The ASB seconds the need for more oversight in the banking sector. As the first deputy general director of the ASB, Valery Miroshnikov, says, "Our active moves towards [increased] responsibility on the part of the leadership of banks will lead to awareness on everyone's part that there is market discipline, law enforcement, and real working levers to support the law. Then they will really understand what consequences threaten if they exchange good assets for bad."
Svetlana Dementieva
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 25, 2006
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