Telman Ismailov received political asylum in Montenegro | News from Germany about Europe | DW

Montenegro has granted political asylum to Telman Ismailov, the former owner of the Cherkizovsky market in Moscow. The businessman, detained on October 1 at the request of the Russian authorities and arrested in Podgorica, was released from custody on Friday, October 22, Ismailov’s lawyer Milos Vuksanovich told the local publication Pobjeda.

Earlier, even before the arrest, the businessman managed to apply for asylum, and since after the check the decision on this issue turned out to be positive, Ismailov is no longer threatened with extradition to Russia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro said. The country’s authorities have provided him with international protection. The decision to arrest him was canceled.

RF accuses Ismailov of murders

In 2015, Ismailov was declared bankrupt in Russia, and in 2017 he was charged in absentia with the murder of two entrepreneurs – the owner of shopping malls Vladimir Savkin and the founder of Lyublino Motors, Yuri Brylev, as well as illegal arms trafficking.

The businessman’s brother Rafik was found guilty of both of these crimes in 2020 and sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony. Telman Ismailov was put on the wanted list in 2018. Another of his brother Vagif, who also left Russia, is also involved in this case. Both of them were arrested in Russia in absentia.

In 2019, the prosecutor’s office of Zurich, Switzerland opened a criminal case against Telman Ismailov on charges of economic crimes.

See also:

• How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  “Global Laundry”

  According to documents obtained by the international organization of investigative journalists OCCRP, at least $ 20 billion was withdrawn from Russia in three years, but the real amount could be $ 80 billion. Journalists believe that about 500 people were involved in the corruption scheme, codenamed “Global Laundry”, including oligarchs, bankers and individuals with links to the FSB.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  Fake firms

  Money laundering usually took place according to the following scheme: the attackers registered abroad, for example, in the UK, two shell companies, the real owners of which were hiding behind a chain of offshore companies. Both companies existed only on paper. The authors of the investigation suggest that the same individuals were in fact behind both businesses.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  Fictitious transactions

  The two firms then signed a loan agreement whereby firm A borrows a large amount from firm B. In reality, the deal was fictitious, and firm A did not receive any money.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  Russian companies as a guarantor

  The contract stipulated that commercial structures from Russia, which in almost all cases were headed by a citizen of Moldova, would act as the guarantor of the loan repayment. Firm “A” then declared itself insolvent, and obligations to repay the debt were automatically transferred to Russian companies.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  Bribery judges

  Since a citizen of Moldova was at the head of the Russian firms, the claims had to be considered in a Moldovan court. Corrupt judges confirmed the existence of arrears and issued an order to recover the required amount from the guarantors. According to the investigation, more than 20 Moldovan judges were involved in the scheme. Some of them are now under investigation, while the rest have quit.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  In the center of the scheme is the Moldovan Moldindconbank …

  Following the judgment, the bailiffs, who were also involved in the scheme, opened accounts with the Moldovan bank Moldindconbank. Russian companies had to transfer money to these accounts, thus closing the fictitious debt.

• 

  How the Russian money laundering scheme worked

  ..and Latvian bank Trasta Komercbanka

  Finally, the money was forwarded to the account of the “creditor company”, for the opening of which the Latvian bank Trasta Komercbanka was always chosen. Thus, the funds legalized by the Moldovan court ended up in the EU: the fraudsters could now dispose of the money at their own discretion and transfer it to accounts in other countries. Trasta Komercbanka’s license was recently revoked.

  Author: Alexandra Elkina

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