MOSCOW, May 16 - RAPSI. The criminal case against the former head of the Energomash holding, leading Russian electrical equipment producer, has been submitted to court.
Alexander Stepanov has been accused of attempted fraud and abuse of power. He was placed on the federal wanted list on charges of large-scale fraud involving Sberbank loans and arrested on February 1. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The suspect owes Sberbank 17.5 billion rubles ($576 million).
Companies operating under the Energomash holding and Stepanov personally owe $365 million in debt to Kazakhstan's BTA-Bank and have 500 million rubles ($16.6 million) in liabilities to its subsidiary ATM-Bank, which was deprived of its license last summer.
Energomash Corporation, a part of the holding, is a guarantor under Sberbank's lawsuit. Stepanov stopped paying the debt and submitted an application on the firms bankruptcy.
Sberbank has been recognized as the largest Energomash Corporation creditor, as it is owed 12.7 billion rubles ($412.67 million) in debt.
However, Stepanov illegally attempted to acquire the right to Energomash Corporation's property after formalizing fake debt to an offshore company worth over 16 billion rubles ($519.9 million).
According to the defense attorneys, Stepanov is the only suspect in the case. Meanwhile, the investigation continues, as Stepanov reportedly could not have effected such multibillion disinvestment transactions on his own.