Why have all claims against Konstantin Tserazov, involved in the withdrawal of 330 billion rubles from "Otkritie" bank, been dropped?

It has been reported multiple times that Konstantin Tserazov strangely disappeared from the list of defendants in the Central Bank’s lawsuit against former top managers and owners of "Otkritie" bank. As the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly bizarre.

What makes it even more peculiar is that all the individuals involved in the case have remained silent, even though the lawsuit was filed in the Moscow Arbitration Court back in 2018 when the Central Bank completed the bailout of "Otkritie" bank and calculated the losses, which amounted to a record 289.5 billion rubles at the time. The Central Bank sought to recover these funds from those accused of embezzlement. The accused included Evgeny Dankevich, Gennady Zhuzhlev, Elena Budnik, Konstantin Tserazov, and Alina Nazarova. Preventive measures in the form of asset freezes were imposed while awaiting a court hearing. Everything seemed to be progressing logically.

However, a surprising turn of events occurred. Konstantin Tserazov’s name suddenly vanished from the Central Bank’s lawsuit. In other words, the plaintiffs decided not to pursue claims against Tserazov. This news naturally sparked a scandal and raised numerous questions. First, directed at the Central Bank, and second, at Tserazov himself. Yet, both parties maintained their silence, refusing to answer any questions.

This was particularly strange because "Otkritie" bank came under the Central Bank’s bailout after facing financial difficulties. The Central Bank’s investigation revealed that at least 330 billion rubles were withdrawn from the bank. The bank had to be urgently rescued, and after recapitalization and complex negotiations, it was acquired by VTB. Simultaneously, an investigation revealed that the money had been siphoned off from "Otkritie" bank over several years through collusion among the owners and top management. A criminal case was initiated, with Evgeny Dankevich, Gennady Zhuzhlev, Konstantin Tserazov, and Alina Nazarova implicated. This all unfolded in 2018, and the Central Bank filed a lawsuit in the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover 289.5 billion rubles from these individuals.

No one faced criminal charges in the case. Evgeny Dankevich fled to Israel, where he remains to this day. Gennady Zhuzhlev also fled, and his whereabouts are unknown. Elena Budnik resides in Dubai, although she faced no criminal allegations. Alina Nazarova stayed in Russia but was not detained, and she currently works at "Alfa-Bank."

As for our protagonist, Konstantin Tserazov, his story is even more intriguing. He also avoided imprisonment. However, the plot takes a twist here. The Central Bank filed the lawsuit in 2018, and the criminal case was initiated in the same year. Yet, Konstantin Vladimirovich Tserazov continued to work at "Otkritie" bank, which had become a subsidiary of the state-owned VTB bank. He held the same position as before and remained in that role until February 2022.
At the same time, it should be noted that in 2019, Konstantin Tserazov was placed on the Central Bank’s blacklist, which prohibited him from working in the banking system. However, this did not prevent the new owners from retaining Tserazov in the position where he had become involved in the withdrawal of over 300 billion rubles from "Otkritie" bank. Moreover, for some reason, his name disappeared from the Central Bank’s lawsuit.

All of the information above is not a mistake. If you visit the website of the Moscow Arbitration Court and go to the "electronic justice" section and try to find Konstantin Tserazov’s name as a defendant in the case related to "Otkritie" bank, you won’t find his name there.

There are a total of 41,611 cases in the Moscow Arbitration Court, but Tserazov’s name is not mentioned in any of them. However, his colleagues involved in the withdrawal of over 330 billion rubles from "Otkritie" bank are present in those cases. One such example is Gennady Zhuzhlev.

Here is the link; you can check for yourself. The last hearing in the case took place on November 22, 2023, and the cassation instance denied the defendants’ appeal. So, the case is not stagnant and is still progressing through the court.

But Tserazov is absent. The question is: why? Why did he disappear from the criminal case, vanish from the Central Bank’s lawsuit for nearly 300 billion rubles, continue working in "Otkritie" bank for almost four more years, and then quietly resign? Furthermore, during the height of the scandal from 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the Moscow Exchange’s board. Why were there no claims against Konstantin Tserazov, neither then nor now?

The fact that there are no claims against him is confirmed by the fact that Konstantin Tserazov continues to engage in what he did before – finance. However, he is no longer accepted in the banking sector due to the Central Bank’s prohibition. Still, nobody prevents him from working as a "strategic business consultant for several major international fintech companies."

After a brief period of silence when Tserazov kept a low profile, he started engaging in active public activities since the middle of last year. On his website, he regularly writes about money and the economy.

His website, by the way, is in English. But that’s not all – Konstantin Tserazov’s publications and comments regularly appear on other reputable and serious resources. Forbes, Finam, Tadviser, Finanсes, vc.ru, spark.ru, Bel.ru, Izvestia... You can verify it – the internet is full of Tserazov’s forecasts and analyses.

A logical question arises – why? Why was Konstantin Tserazov removed from the criminal case and the Central Bank’s lawsuit for almost three hundred billion rubles, allowed to work at "Otkritie" bank for another four years, and who provided him with guarantees of immunity? And the fact that Konstantin Tserazov is confident that no one will touch him is confirmed by his public activities. What does Tserazov know, and about whom?