MOSCOW, October 17 (RAPSI) – A criminal case has been launched over premeditated bankruptcy of VIM Airlines, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced on Tuesday.

Investigators believe that certain top managers and owners of the air carrier intentionally made losing bargains in 2016 and 2017 including those aimed at siphoning of assets abroad. The deals led to enormous financial outlay and undoubtedly resulted in the company’s failure to pay debts to creditors in full.

Earlier, probe was opened into VIM Airlines employees over alleged embezzlement.

According to investigators, employees of the VIM Airlines continued to sell tickets to clients despite being aware that the airline was not able to transfer passengers because there were not enough funds to buy fuel. Investigators believe that the employees embezzled more than one million rubles ($17,000).

In late September, the Investigative Committee official representative Svetlana Petrenko told RAPSI that investigative authorities took measures to recover damage caused by employees of the airline as part of the notorious embezzlement case.

VIM Airlines CEO and chief accountant, Alexander Kochnev and Yekaterina Panteleyeva, have been arrested as part of the case. Co-owners of VIM Airlines Rashid Mursekayev and Svetlana Mursekayeva fled Russia and are currently residing abroad, according to investigators.