Finnish bank allowed Russian-Jewish oligarch and Putin friend Rotenberg to withdraw cash days before sanctions
07/05/2023
A bank in Finland allowed Russian billionaire Boris Rotenberg to withdraw money from his account a few days before the businessman was included in the EU sanctions list. The Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat writes about this, citing documents from the financial inspection.
It is alleged that Suupohjan Osuuspankki Bank has been trying to close the account of Boris Rotenberg since 2020 due to US sanctions against the businessman, but the decision was postponed several times. In the spring of 2022, an employee of the bank’s compliance department, who monitored compliance with the sanctions, recommended that Boris Rotenberg be denied the issuance of funds at his request. Nevertheless, on April 4, the businessman received his money by signing an assurance that he would not transfer it to Russia or Belarus, writes Ilta-Sanomat. Four years after the withdrawal of funds, Boris Rotenberg fell under EU sanctions, which included a ban on financial transactions in the EU countries. The amount of withdrawn assets is not disclosed in the publication.
Recall that Boris Rotenberg has been a Finnish citizen since the early 2000s. After the businessman was included in the EU sanctions lists, his assets in Finland were blocked. In September, the arrest also affected Langvik Capital, which owns shares in the Langvik Hotel and the largest ice stadium in the country, Helsinki Hall. The company is registered in the name of Roman Rotenberg, the son of Boris Rotenberg, who is not included in the EU sanctions list. However, the Finnish fiscal authorities found that "Boris and Arkady Rotenberg lent Langvik Capital a total of more than €34 million." This gave the Finnish authorities the right to seize the company's assets.