The Interpol has refused Russia’s application to issue a foreign arrest warrant for billionaire banker Boris Mints and two of his sons, who are reportedly exiled in London, The Moscow Times reports, citing the Mints’ official representatives.
The co-founder of Otkritie Bank is being sought by Russian authorities on suspicion of embezzling 34 billion rubles ($460 million) from the bank just before it almost failed in 2017, when it secured a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Central Bank. Otkritie was Russia’s biggest privately-owned financial institution until being taken over by the regulator.
The Commission for the Control of Interpol Files rejected the application to grant an international arrest warrant for Mints and two of his sons, Dmitry and Alexander, after a months-long investigation, finding inadequate evidence linking them to the allegations set out in Russia, according to a spokesman for the family in a statement.
The Russian government refused to offer “necessary information as to what the persons were said to have done, how they were believed to have gained, or whether they could be held criminally responsible if charged in Russia,” according to the Interpol investigation, according to the family’s lawyers.
Interpol records obtained by The Moscow Times show that none of the three was the target of a Notice or Diffusion — Interpol’s scheme that helps law enforcement authorities to seek foreign assistance, such as arresting wanted figures in several jurisdictions.
