Bank "Nevsky" surrounded by 3 billion

Unidentified persons left Nevsky without a penny.
16.12.2019
Kommersant
Origin source
Nevsky Bank lost its license due to theft of money and securities from it for 3 billion rubles. The uniqueness of the case is that the amount stolen significantly exceeds all possible assets of the bank, and the crime itself was committed immediately after the regulator checked. Experts suggest that the bank could convert cash from the correspondent account into cash and additionally attract client funds on the eve of the theft. The Bank of Russia shares this version, adding that it will figure out whether “circuit operations” were used to raise money.

The Central Bank revoked the license of a small St. Petersburg bank "Nevsky". The regulator’s press release said that the bank has lost all capital due to the need to create reserves for stolen assets. The crime was committed by “unidentified persons” in early December. Criminals stole cash and securities worth more than 3 billion rubles.

Nevsky Bank was registered by the Central Bank in 1990 (under the name of Redmet). As of November 6, its shareholders were 11 individuals, ten of which owned approximately equal blocks of shares of 9.992–9.993%. And at least five of them became shareholders of the bank this year. Included in the deposit insurance system. As of November 1, the amount of funds of individuals amounted to 1.3 billion rubles.

Meanwhile, according to the latest publicly available statements, all assets of the bank as of November 1 amounted to 2.25 billion rubles. For any reporting date in 2019, they also did not reach 3 billion rubles. At the cash desk of Nevsky, such a large amount for the bank was only in January 2016. As of November 1, 2019, there were only 210 million rubles in cash and cash machines of the bank, and 1.5 million rubles in securities. They have been at this level since the end of 2017.

According to the Central Bank, as of December 1 (reporting on this date has not yet been published), Nevsky ranked 317th in the banking system in terms of assets. On November 1, according to the calculations of Kommersant, he took 323rd place. The difference between these places in terms of assets amounted to only 40 million rubles. In addition, in November two larger banks lost their licenses. Thus, the assets of Nevsky on December 1 were unlikely to significantly differ from the previous month. Accordingly, their growth, like the crime, occurred in the first decade of December.
 
Until December 5, the Central Bank employees were in Nevsky who conducted an unscheduled inspection. At the same time, it is not clear when there was a sharp increase in cash and securities, and then theft - during the verification process or immediately after its completion, that is, from December 5 to 10.

Experts believe that for the emergence of liquid assets in excess of the bank’s assets, it was necessary not only to transfer all possible assets into cash, but also to raise additional funds.

The head of the analytical department of BKF Bank Maxim Osadchiy noted that as of November 1, the bank had only 1.7 billion rubles of liquid assets. In particular, they include money at the cash desk and funds in correspondent accounts of the bank. He also drew attention to off-balance sheet accounts of the bank, namely property accepted as collateral for funds placed by the bank in the amount of 576 million rubles. But even if the property in collateral was replaced by the borrower with liquid assets, then the bank could have cash in the amount of 2.3 billion rubles.

According to Stanislav Volkov, managing director of the NKR rating agency, the difference between the amount of stolen funds and the bank’s assets arose as a result of the fact that a significant amount of cash and securities appeared on the bank’s balance sheet after December 1, for example, due to funds received in the bank’s clients accounts.

The Central Bank agrees with these hypotheses. According to the regulator, Nevsky transferred most of its assets into cash. “In addition, on the eve of the theft, the bank increased the borrowed funds,” the Central Bank specified. “It remains to be determined whether this was done in a“ schematic ”way.”

Who exactly on the eve of the theft placed at least 700 million rubles in the bank, and how exactly all these funds were stolen, the Central Bank did not explain.

The management of the bank, as the Central Bank noted in its press release, appealed to law enforcement agencies in connection with the crime.

Business

Previous Article
Next article