TIMES.KY

Cayman Islands, Caribbeanand International News
Tuesday, Jun 06, 2023

The Russian bank, the Bruce Willis ad and the $900m sanctions battle

The Russian bank, the Bruce Willis ad and the $900m sanctions battle

Ministers warned that millions owed after alleged fraud by ex bosses of National Bank Trust could help fund Putin’s war effort
In one of Russia’s most high-profile marketing campaigns, film star Bruce Willis appeared in cinematic advertisements with a car chase and a rooftop rescue, ending with the slogan, “Trust is just like me, but a bank.”

The campaign for National Bank Trust in 2011 – which included cardboard cutouts of Willis popping up in 400 branches across Russia – was credited with raising the bank’s profile and boosting business.

Ministers are now under pressure to impose sanctions on the bank over its efforts to recover hundreds of millions of pounds in debts from the UK.

A decade ago, money was pouring in to the bank’s coffers from clients and large chunks were sent around the world in loans for a network of offshore companies. But it was subsequently alleged that the elaborate corporate structure incorporated fake documents and was a fraudulent scheme that concealed bad debts and enriched key executives.

Willis, whose family announced earlier this year he had the neurological disorder aphasia, had no knowledge of the alleged scheme.

The high court in London ruled in January 2020 that the bank was owed $900m (£735m) compensation from three former bosses, two settled in Britain, allegedly involved in the scheme. The bank is now seeking to recover money owed in the UK, but ministers face questions on whether sanctions will stop it getting the cash.

National Bank Trust is now majority owned by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, so any money recovered in Britain could flow back to the Russian state.

Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, said: “There are too many question marks around the National Bank Trust and whether it is, in fact, able to channel funds to the Putin regime.

“We need crystal-clear answers about whether it is able to raise foreign cash, that the Kremlin is so desperate for, and send it back to Russia.

“The government must reassure the British public that sanctions are being applied to all Kremlin cronies without exception, and that National Bank Trust is in no position to help Putin fund his war chest. If it is, it must be sanctioned straight away.” Jardine has tabled parliamentary questions about whether the bank will be targeted with sanctions.

The Foreign Office announced economic sanctions targeting the Russian central bank on 28 February, four days after the invasion of Ukraine. The Foreign Office would not comment on whether National Bank Trust also faces sanctions.

The bank alleges its former majority owners – Ilya Yurov, former chair of the supervisory board, Nikolay Fetisov, its former president, and Sergey Belyaev – orchestrated a fraud to conceal bad debts and extract millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses. Russia tried to extradite Yurov from the UK in 2018, but the request was refused on the grounds he would not receive a fair trial.

Steptoe & Johnson, the legal firm that acted for the bank, said an English “fixer” called Benedict Worsley ran the bank’s offshore network, allegedly hiring a team in Cyprus which was “churning out fake documents in what only can be described as a document factory”.

Yurov and Fetisov said the offshore companies were properly used for “balance sheet management”, while Belyaev, who settled in the US, denied knowledge of the scheme. Worsley, who was not called to give evidence at the hearing but was described as a man who “likes to act like James Bond”, has said all decisions involving corporate administration were made by the bank’s owners or managers. The bank collapsed in December 2014 and required a state-backed bailout of more than 100bn rubles (£1.2bn).

The high court heard in 2018 that Yurov’s family properties, held in the name of his wife, Nataliya, included Oxney Court, a gothic manor house with a swimming pool and tennis court on the Kent coast bought for £4.1m in 2012; two properties in Cyprus; and three flats in Chelsea with a combined value of over £6m. The Fetisov family portfolio included a £4.25m mansion in Oxshott, Surrey; a £1.6m flat in Chelsea; and a residence near Moscow.

Mazars, the international accounting and advisory firm, announced in May 2020 that it was working as joint trustees in the bankruptcy of Yurov and Fetisov. It recently filed court applications to obtain bank statements linked to the case.

The firm was appointed by the business secretary on behalf of the high court and is seeking to recover the bankrupts’ assets for the benefit of creditors, including National Bank Trust.

Mazars said it complied with all sanctions and no transactions would occur with sanctioned entities or their subsidiaries without court permission. National Bank Trust did not respond to a request for comment.

UK officials say they are systematically sanctioning Russian individuals and organisations, but will not comment on specific cases. One official said: ‘“While he [Putin] continues this war, we will continue tightening the ratchet with further sanctions.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TIMES.KY
Close
0:00
0:00
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
If you donated to BLM, you got played
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
Actor Tom Hanks told Harvard University graduates to be superheroes in their defense of truth and American ideals, and to resist those who twist the truth for their own gain
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
France Arrests 10 on Suspicion of Failing to Respond in Time to Migrant Drowning
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Is Saudi Arabia the holiest place in the world? Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions from "The Mount Sinai Stand" Discovered in Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Last Walmart in North Portland Closing Down
Florida's DeSantis seeks to disqualify judge in Disney case
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls the British monarchy "an absurdity" he wants to remove in his lifetime
King Charles III being crowned.
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
Ukraine More Prepared for Counterattack as Reinforcements Arrive
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Discuss Migration, Defence, and Ukraine
AT&T's Successful Test of Satellite-Based Phone Call Raises Possibility of Widespread Coverage
CNN: "Joe Biden is asking for four more years — when 74% of Americans think the country is heading the wrong way“
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Cuts Short Live TV Interview Due to Health Issue
US Congresswoman threaten Twitter Files journalist with arrest
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh slams New York Times' pro-government stance and treatment of sources
Enough is enough: it's time to end the war in Ukraine. While Russia may be to blame for starting it, Russia is not the one refusing to stop it
Fox News Settles their case with Dominion Voting Systems for a staggering $787.5 MILLION
AG decries scapegoating and rushed lawmaking by government
The land of the free violence
21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira has been arrested for leaking classified Pentagon Documents
×