MOSCOW, May 25 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Commercial Court on Thursday declared ex-president of Vneshprombank Larisa Markus sentenced to 9 years in prison for embezzling 114 billion rubles (about $2 billion) bankrupt upon the application of VTB24 bank, RAPSI learnt in the court.

In April, the court granted another petition lodged by VTB24 seeking bankruptcy of Lazar Markus, the husband of Larisa Markus.

On May 12, the court found Larisa Markus and vice-president of the bank Yekaterina Glushakova guilty of large-scale embezzlement. Glushakova was sentenced to four years in a penal colony. The ruling was appealed.

Investigators believe that Markus along with her brother Georgy Bedzhamov, who once co-owned the bank, created an organized crime group to siphon money from the bank. The group allegedly granted loans to sub-companies and did not refund money to Vneshprombank. Allegedly, from May 2009 to December 2015, conspirators managed to embezzle over 114 billion rubles.

Bedzhamov was arrested in absentia and put on the wanted list.

In March 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court declared Vneshprombank bankrupt. Vneshprombank was one of the top 40 by assets before it lost its license in January of the same year.