Top official implicated in corruption scam with FSB links
The Bell, 08 March 2021
The Russian banking sector was rocked by the arrest of several high-ranking FSB officers last year who covered up a bribery scandal (as reported by The Bell and investigative outlet Proekt). This week, we learned of yet another player in the scam — the deputy head of state-owned Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) that manages failing banks. An investigation by Meduza, VTimes and Proekt found that one of the agency’s senior managers set up a system that diverted funds to rescue struggling banks into the pockets of contractors (who paid kickbacks).
When FSB Colonel Kirill Cherkalin was arrested in April 2019, a total of $180 million in cash and valuables was discovered at his properties. He was charged with fraud, but the numbers in the indictment were far below the $180 million. Cherkalin told investigators that most of the cash belonged to Valery Miroshnikov, deputy head of the DIA (this was reported by Open Media, which cited a source close to the investigation). Miroshnikov fled the country almost immediately after Cherkalin was arrested.
