Baker Boris Ilyich

Baker Boris Ilyich

History

2022

Seizure of property for 24.6 billion rubles

On March 1, 2022, the Moscow Arbitration Court seized the assets of Boris Bulochnik, the beneficiary and former chairman of the board of the Master Bank, which went bankrupt in 2014, in the amount of 24.6 billion rubles.

As follows from the ruling of the court, which RIA Novosti refers to, works of painting and other objects were arrested, as stated in the judicial act of movable property, listed in four decisions of the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow in a criminal case against Bulochnik. The list includes paintings, drawings, sketches of Nikolai, Svyatoslav and Yuri Roerichs, works by other authors, old and rare things, a collection of bronze sculptures, icons, jewelry, etc.

The court also seized money and Bulochnik's apartment in Ozerkovsky Lane in Moscow, and also banned Rosreestr from any registration actions with four land plots in the Ilyinskoye settlement of the Krasnogorsk district of the Moscow region and two buildings on these plots.

In addition, the court arrested the property of other former heads of the Master Bank Alexander Bulochnik, Galina Nagaeva and Vladimir Orlov in the amount of 24.6 billion rubles each. Security measures were taken as part of a lawsuit by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) to bring former top managers of the bank to subsidiary liability.

According to the DIA, the defendants approved the bank's allocation of deliberately bad loans. The agency considers 44 loans issued to legal entities for about 18.2 billion rubles, and 154 to individuals. The DIA told the court that the loans were "minimally repaid, but not by everyone and before the revocation of the license from the bank." Subsequently, most of the borrowers were declared bankrupt or they did not have property.

Meanwhile, representatives of the defendants expressed the opinion that the DIA did not prove the guilt of their principals. According to them, practically no meetings of the board were held.^[1]

Refusal of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to consider the cassation appeal against the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation supported the arrest of the property of the ex-leaders of Master Bank for 24.6 billion rubles each. This was announced on December 16, 2022 by the Deposit Insurance Agency. Read more here.

2025: Absentee sentence - 10 years in prison for embezzlement of ₽4,4 billion

The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow at the end of January 2025 sentenced in absentia the former chairman of the board of the Master Bank Boris Bulochnik to 10 years in a general regime colony for embezzling ₽4,4 billion by issuing bad loans and legalizing funds through the purchase of paintings.

According to Kommersant, the court also confiscated 41 paintings and satisfied the claim of the Deposit Insurance Agency in the amount of ₽4,6 billion. The claims of depositors Yuri Sherling and Valery Aganov in the amount of more than ₽160 million were additionally satisfied.

𝓲

Фото: Roerich International Council of Roerich Organizations

According to the case file, in the period from 2011 to 2013, the accused, together with accomplices, issued fictitious loan agreements for 70 individuals and four commercial structures. After being prosecuted in 2016, Bulochnik disappeared and was put on the international wanted list.

During the investigation, it was established that since the 1990s, the accused acquired art objects abroad, mainly paintings by Nicholas Roerich, which he transferred to the Roerichs International Center. In 2016, 41 paintings were retroactively decorated as a gift, but the investigation established preparations for their export and sale abroad.

Lawyer Svetlana Chirkova announced her intention to appeal the verdict, pointing out the lack of direct evidence of the client's involvement in the crimes. According to her, the philanthropic activities of Bulochnik lasted two decades, and the sane criminal activity is limited to two years.

The state prosecution requested 13 years in prison for the defendant. After the start of the criminal prosecution, Bulochnik returned to his hometown of Vinnitsa, and then moved to London. The trial, despite its absentee nature, lasted a year and a half.

The representative of the victims Oksana Filacheva expressed satisfaction with the court decision. Two depositors who lost funds in the bank in 2012-2013 appeared at the announcement of the verdict.^[2]

Notes