Rolf car dealership founder Sergei Petrov is sentenced to nine years in absentia over an alleged 4-billion-ruble scheme

Source: Interfax

The Cheryomushkinsky District Court in Moscow has sentenced Sergey Petrov, founder of the car dealership Rolf and a former State Duma deputy, to nine years in prison in absentia on charges of transferring 4 billion rubles abroad, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Petrov was also fined 800,000 rubles.

Russian authorities opened a criminal case against Petrov and Rolf’s senior executives in 2019, when Petrov was living in Austria and refused to return to Russia. He linked the case to a corporate raid on the company and denied withdrawing any money from Rolf.

Investigators allege that Petrov and three others named in the case — Tatyana Lukovetskaya, Georgy Kafkalia, and Anatoly Kairo — forged an agreement under which Rolf bought shares in Rolf Estate, a company headed by Kairo, for 3.9 billion rubles. In fact, Rolf Estate’s shares were worth no more than one ruble, since its assets had been pledged as collateral. The money then passed through foreign organizations controlled by Petrov before reaching Petrov himself.

Rolf is Russia’s largest car dealership holding, founded by Petrov in 1991. He served as a State Duma deputy — the lower house of Russia’s parliament — from 2007 to 2016, representing the A Just Russia party. In 2011, he took part in a rally against election fraud on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow.

In December 2023, Vladimir Putin signed a decree nationalizing Rolf. Businessman Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association, has since become the company’s owner.

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Rolf car dealership founder Sergei Petrov is sentenced to nine years in absentia over an alleged 4-billion-ruble scheme

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Rolf car dealership founder Sergei Petrov is sentenced to nine years in absentia over an alleged 4-billion-ruble scheme

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