The Prosecutor’s office of Switzerland has frozen assets belonging to the founder of Mezhprombank Sergey Pugachev, writes Slon.Ru with reference to Associated Press. Prosecutors did not specify what particular assets were frozen. The Department explained that he took this decision after a request of Russia.
Note that in Russia Sergei Pugachev, who now lives abroad, is accused of multi-billion dollar embezzlement of funds of the BCH (article 160 of the criminal code). He also is accused of abuse of authority (article 201 of the criminal code). We are talking about a loan for the purchase of the apartment once a high-ranking official of the President administration Alexander Gladyshev. According to investigators, the banker is ordered to forge documents, according to which the official could not repay.
Pugachev and his lawyers believe that “all the accusations against him by the Russian authorities is politically motivated and not legally justified”. Pugachev gave several controversial interviews, in which he told about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. So, in the summer of 2015 he gave an interview to TV channel “Rain”, in which he said that he proposed the candidacy of Vladimir Putin for the role of successor, Boris Yeltsin. The former Senator said that at the time the key decision was taken by three people: himself, Boris Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and her husband, the former head of the presidential administration Valentin Yumashev.
In the movie “the Secret of wealth Putin”, which the British TV channel BBC One released in January of this year, Pugachev says Putin “controls a large business in Russia. According to him, Putin “personally admitted” to him that “wants to leave the post wealthy man.” “People of great wealth, 100% dependent on Putin”, — said Pugachev.
