Alexander Pleshakov and his mother manipulated Transaero shares

Because of the informational information about the revival of the company, they sold the stake, avoiding losses of 200 million rubles, the Central Bank said.
28.06.2019
Vedomosti
Origin source
The Central Bank discovered two schemes for manipulating the shares of the bankrupt Transaero airline, said Valery Lyakh, director of the Central Bank’s Department for Combating Unscrupulous Practices of the Central Bank. The schemes operated in 2014–2016, he said.

Suspicious transactions

First, the regulator drew attention to the deals that Cyprian Jeimbo Cyprus (Transaero’s subsidiary) and Otkritie Advisory Services Bermuda (now liquidated) concluded between brokers. From May 2014 to February 2015, they regularly sold Transaero shares to each other on the stock exchange and also concluded reverse OTC transactions between themselves, the Central Bank found out. At the same time, applications from Jeimbo were filed by employees who were at the same time employees of Transaero, the Central Bank reports.

The share of Jeimbo and Otkritie in the turnover of trades during this period most of the time reached 51-100%. Inter-company deals created an appearance of trading activity and kept prices high so that Transaero could then use the shares as collateral to raise loans through Jeimbo, explained Lyakh.

Family matters

Studying the case of Jeimbo, the Central Bank discovered other suspicious transactions. From September to December 2016, one of the co-owners and a member of the Board of Directors of Transaero, Alexander Pleshakov (owned 59.48%) under donation agreements, transferred shares from his account to the account of his mother, Chairman of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) Tatiana Anodina, discovered the Central Bank . Total Anodina received 41.4% of the papers. In order not to attract attention, the shares were transferred in small packages - up to 5%, Lyakh noted. At the same time, neither Pleshakov nor Anodina reported on the changes in their shares, although such information relates to insider information and is subject to disclosure.

Anodin received shares, then sold them on the stock exchange to a wide range of investors. And although Transaero has been without an operator certificate for a year, its shares sometimes soared up that fall. The deals were made at a time when the company issued statements in the media about the possible resumption of its activities, Lyakh explained: the market reacted to such publications with a sharp increase in quotations. On November 2, 2016, Transaero shares went up almost 71% on the Moscow Stock Exchange. On this day, the company's press service announced that the management plans to launch a new airline based on Transaero.

As soon as the entire package was sold from the Anodina account, information about the restoration of Transaero’s work ceased to spread. Given the actions of Pleshakov, it was most likely deliberately false, and the actions of the company and its employees who disseminated this information are manipulating the stock market, the regulator said.
 
The media has nothing to do with it

According to the Central Bank estimates, over 2,000 investors who have bought Transaero have suffered because of these transactions. And Pleshakov and Anodina were able to avoid more than 200 million rubles. damages. Materials Central Bank handed over to law enforcement. Lyakh did not find any signs of media involvement in the misuse of insider information by the Central Bank.

Neither the Central Bank nor the law enforcement agencies turned to Anodina on these issues and she does not know anything about the manipulation of Transaero shares, the MAC informed.

Pleshakov created Transaero with his wife, Olga, and for many years headed its board of directors. His wife was the CEO from 2001 to 2015. In the fall of 2015, the couple left Russia, the lenders and acquaintances of Pleshakov told Vedomosti. In 2017, Pleshakov informed the American court that he lived in Azerbaijan and the European Union countries.
 
 

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