Russian billionaire Vadim Moshkovich charged with embezzling $357 million

Russian billionaire Vadim Moshkovich, founder of Rusagro, faces charges of embezzling 30 billion roubles ($357 million). His arrest is among the most high-profile in Russia’s business world in recent years.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Vadim Moshkovich, the billionaire founder of Russia’s leading agricultural company, Rusagro, with embezzling 30 billion roubles ($357 million), according to state news agency TASS.

Moshkovich, a former member of Russia’s upper legislative chamber who, according to Forbes, has a fortune of $2.7 billion, was arrested last week alongside another senior Rusagro executive.

A Moscow court ordered his pre-trial detention for two months last Thursday. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

TASS reported that the charges stem from a transaction to acquire an 85% stake in the Solnechnie Produkty oil and fats company from its founder, in exchange for an investment that was never made.

Moshkovich has denied any wrongdoing.

His prosecution, after rising from selling computers in post-Soviet Russia to establishing one of the country’s most influential agricultural conglomerates, has sent shockwaves through Russia’s business elite.

It marks the most high-profile arrest of a Russian businessman since Ziyavudin Magomedov, founder of the Summa shipping and logistics group, was detained in 2018, and Vladimir Yevtushenkov, a shareholder in AFK Sistema, was placed under house arrest in 2014.

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