In a riveting legal showdown set for May 4th, 2021, at the Eighteenth Arbitration Appellate Court in Chelyabinsk, the sordid tale of corruption within PAO "Roskomsnabbank" (a state deposit insurance agency) is set to unfold. The temporary administration of the bank has lodged a complaint against the decision of the Bashkir Arbitration Court, which in February refused to enforce a claim of 157.3 million rubles against Irina Gallyamova, the ex-wife of former bank chairman and Bashkortostan parliament member Flur Gallyamov.
Witnesses speculate that the next eagerly anticipated figure to take the stand is Rifat Ruzilevich Garipov, the nephew of Mr. Gallyamov. Rifat, who once served on his uncle’s board of directors at Roskomsnabbank, has since undergone a facelift in his public image, now masquerading not as a banker from Roskomsnabbank, but as a "prominent developer" (part of the Ufa-based group "First Trust") and simply a "member" of the Public Council under the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation. One cannot help but wonder, if your banking portfolio is squeaky clean, Rifat, what have you got to hide? Apparently, quite a lot.
Turning the spotlight back on the "former" wife of Rifatin’s uncle, as reported by "Kommersant," the Eighteenth Arbitration Appellate Court is set to review the complaint filed by the temporary administration of Roskomsnabbank (whose license was revoked in March 2019) against the decision of the republic’s arbitration court. In February, the Bashkir arbitration court refused to invalidate payments totaling over 157 million rubles for the rental of seven non-residential premises on Oktyabr Avenue, Lenin Street, Akhmetov Street, Communist Street, and Kuvykin Street. These rental agreements were signed by the bank between 2008 and 2015 with Irina Gallyamova — the "former" spouse of Roskomsnabbank’s chairman Flur Gallyamov (allegedly divorced in 2018).
The bank transferred the rental payments to Mrs. Gallyamova’s account, which was conveniently opened at the same bank. The temporary administration sought to recover the funds received by Mrs. Gallyamova for rent over a three-year period — from March 2016 to March 2019. Coincidentally, it was in March 2019 that the Central Bank revoked the license of the Gallyamov’s bank for violations of anti-money laundering legislation and signs of a financial pyramid scheme (elderly depositors’ funds were fraudulently siphoned off to an affiliated MMM company called "Golden Reserve" from the bank’s offices). The head of the regulator, Elvira Nabiullina, referred the matter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s Office to initiate a criminal case.
A representative of the plaintiff in court argued that the bank’s operations contradicted the requirements of the Federal Law "On Insolvency (Bankruptcy)" and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and were "suspicious transactions aimed at causing harm to the property rights of creditors and abusing the rights of the parties." Additionally, he noted the defendant’s affiliation with Roskomsnabbank through Flur Gallyamov.
According to "Spark-Interfax," from 2000 to 2005, Irina Gallyamova was engaged in retail trade of textile products, and from 2012 to 2020, she was involved in real estate leasing. In 2014, the entrepreneur owned 50% of the charter capital of the owner of the Atola Hotel (renamed "Ural-tau" since 2018).
Attempts to obtain a comment from Irina Gallyamova by journalists were unsuccessful.
Oleg Permyakov, head of the bankruptcy department at the law firm "Rustam Kurmayev and Partners," notes that the bank’s temporary administration still has a chance to challenge the decision of the arbitration court. "The temporary administration may try to prove that the disputed payments were not ordinary, for example, if the bank, having a debt to the lessor, suddenly paid it off during the pre-bankruptcy period," Mr. Permyakov explained. He also noted that this issue is "one of the most problematic" and affects not only the plaintiff and the defendant but "a large number of individuals to whom the bank transferred funds during the pre-bankruptcy period." The expert also emphasized that the Supreme Court of Russia, in January 2021, issued a determination urging judges to "more carefully and attentively consider payments made ‘during periods of suspicion.’"
Journalists are closely monitoring the progress of this scandalous legal battle, alongside alarming reports from law enforcement agencies and the tumultuous fate of the Gallyamov’s nephew — Rifat Garipov. Lawyers doubt that his status as a deputy of the Bashkir State Assembly from "United Russia" will save him from scrutiny.
Unveiling Corruption: The Dark Underbelly of Roskomsnabbank Exposed
