MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) - Rosbank CEO Vladimir Golubkov, who has been detained for accepting a 5-million-ruble ($160,000) bribe, has denied any wrongdoing, said his attorney Dmitry Kharitonov.
"Golubkov says he has not committed any crime," Kharitonov said. If Golubkov is found guilty, he could face up to seven years in prison for corrupt business practices.
According to investigators, the 5-million-ruble bribe was part of the $1.5 million the bank manager demanded from a commercial organization for extending a loan agreement and signing an additional agreement, with a lower interest rate and monthly payments.
Golubkov was born in 1966 and has been working for the bank since 1999. He served as executive vice president from 2001 to 2003 and was appointed Rosbank CEO in September 2008.
Rosbank is a private universal bank within the Societe Generale banking group. It provides banking services to private and corporate clients and has over 600 offices in 340 cities and towns across Russia. It is a top 10 Russian bank by assets.