Interpol has removed Dmitry and Alexey Ananiev, the former owners of Promsvyazbank, from its wanted list. In Russia, the brothers stand accused of multi-million-dollar embezzlement and theft.
According to Kommersant, the Ananiev brothers were removed from the list on November 6. This decision was made by the independent Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (the CCF), following a complaint from the brothers’ lawyer. The commission declared the criminal prosecution of Dmitry and Alexey Ananiev politically motivated.
The Ananiev brothers’ lawyer confirmed this information, stating the following: “Our position found full and unconditional support. In all the proceedings, we stated that the persecution of Dmitry and Alexey Ananiev was part of a campaign to seize one of the most successful, private commercial banks in Russia to create a tool for serving the defense sector under conditions of sanctions.”
In December 2017, Russia’s Central Bank announced the restructuring of Promsvyazbank, after discovering violations in its reporting and the destruction of credit history records. Around the same time, reports emerged that Ananiev brothers had fled Russia.
Embezzlement charges were then brought against Dmitry and Alexey Ananiev at the request of Promsvyazbank. At the time, the Russian Investigative Committee estimated the total damages at 66.3 billion rubles (that’s $898 million today) and $575 million. The brothers were arrested in absentia and added to Interpol’s wanted list.
In 2019, property belonging to the Ananiev brothers was seized within the framework of the criminal case, including paintings from the Institute of Russian Realist Art, which Alexey Ananiev founded. Earlier this year, reports emerged that a Cyprus court had seized 267 million euros (about $325 million) worth of assets around the world belonging to the Ananiev brothers and their wives.