Crime Solicitors

A gang who defrauded a Russian Bank of more than £1 million has been sentenced to a total of 19 years in jail.

Southwark Crown Court convicted two City traders of conspiracy to defraud a Russian bank of £141m.

Georgy Urumov, 37, and Vladimir Gersamia, 33, were convicted of multiple fraud offences, following a four-month trial.

Urumov's wife, Yulia Balk, 36, was acquitted of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one of entering into an agreement to facilitate money laundering.

Alessandro Gherzi, 37, was acquitted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the complex nature of the fraud presented a challenge for investigators – but through painstaking analysis of financial transactions, prosecutors were able to outline the individual roles played by the defendants.

The first part of the fraud was carried out in 2011, when Urumov joined the Russian-owned company, Otkritie Securities Ltd (OSL) and manipulated the firm into paying him approximately $25m (£20m) under the false impression it would be distributed to others also joining the firm. However, Urumov retained the vast majority of the money – and went on to commit further frauds by trading financial products called Argentinian warrants, having duped his employer into believing that they had been purchased at four times their true cost. He then pocketed the difference and transferred the gains to bank accounts out of the UK.

Urumov used Gersamia – an employee of investment management company Threadneedle Asset Management – to help cover his tracks.

By manipulating the trade in financial products in this way, the men stood to gain in excess of a further $150m (£121m).

Money defrauded by the men was then moved between numerous accounts in countries across the world, including the Caribbean, Switzerland and Eastern Europe, in an effort to cover up its origins.

Specialist Prosecutor in the CPS Specialist Fraud Division, Alistair Dickson, said:

“These men were successful traders, earning very generous salaries and large bonuses. But that was not enough for them.

“Motivated by greed, they went about committing a fraud involving eye-watering sums of money, using a variety of sophisticated methods.

“Due to the international scale of this fraud, the prosecution team considered millions of pieces of evidence and made arrangements to call witnesses from across the world, in order to present a compelling case to the jury.

“The assistance of both Otkritie Securities Limited and Threadneedle Asset Management in providing evidence to the police was crucial – and this complex prosecution could not have gone ahead without their support.”

At sentencing, Urumov – of Ordnance Hill in St John’s Wood, northwest London – was sentenced to 12 years in jail for two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, two counts of conspiracy to defraud, and one count of money laundering. Gersamia – of Fairmont Avenue, Poplar in east London – was sentenced to seven years for two counts involving fraud and one count involving money laundering.

Balk – also of Ordnance Hill in St John’s Wood, northwest London – was cleared of two counts of money laundering; and Gherzi – of Jermyn Street in Westminster, central London – was cleared of two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, two counts of conspiracy to defraud, and one count of money laundering.

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