MOSCOW, February 27 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova) – Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Monday sentenced former Trust Bank top manager Oleg Dikusar to 7 years in prison for embezzling 14.6 billion rubles ($227 million), RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Another defendant in the case, ex-deputy chairman of the board at Trust Bank and former bank’s CFO Yevgeny Romakov, received a 4-year prison term.

Earlier, prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Dikusar to 7.5 years behind bars.
According to investigators, from 2012 to 2014, Dikusar and Romakov forged loan agreements with several Cyprus-based companies inflicting a 9.9 billion-ruble ($154 million) loss on the bank.

Moreover, between 2013 and 2014, Dikusar alienated a total of 4.6 billion rubles ($71.6 million) Eurobonds which were on the bank’s balance sheet on behalf of Trust Bank owners.

Russia’s Deposit Insurance Agency sustained large damages because it was required to compensate the embezzled funds to defrauded investors.

Midsized lender Trust Bank reported losses of 18.8 billion rubles ($293 million) in 2014 amid a financial crisis. As of December 1, 2014, its assets were estimated at over 290 billion rubles ($4.5 billion).

The Central Bank estimated that the bank’s debts exceeded the value of its assets by 67.8 billion rubles ($1 billion).