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Co-owners of the once successful and now bankrupt online retailer Yulmart, Dmitry Kostygin and August Meyer, have been sentenced in a case opened in 2017 for stealing billions from Sberbank. The defendants were each sentenced to several years in prison, but were immediately released "due to the expiration of the statute of limitations."
The court's verdict
The Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg announced the verdict in the criminal case against Dmitry Kostygin and August Meyer, co-owners of the online retailer Yulmart, which went bankrupt in early 2020. Kostygin was sentenced to four years in a general regime penal colony, Meyer to three years. This was reported by the joint press service of the courts of St. Petersburg on its Telegram channel.
The court found Kostygin and Meyer guilty of three counts under Part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust).
Other defendants in the case of embezzlement of 2.3 billion rubles from Sberbank include Meyer's wife Inna Meyer and business partner Elena Streltsova (received two years in a general regime penal colony), former directors of Yulmart Sergei Fedorinov and Vladimir Shonurov (received 2.5 years in a general regime penal colony).
The defendants were released from their sentences due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the press service said in a statement.
Debt to Sberbank
The investigation into the case of the loan provided by Sberbank to Yulmart has been ongoing since 2017. Kostygin was the first defendant. According to investigators, Kostygin received a loan of one billion rubles from Sberbank. in 2016. The investigation assumed that Kostygin provided knowingly false information about the company's financial situation and did not plan to fulfill the terms of the loan agreement.
In the summer of 2017, a subsidiary of Sberbank called Sberbank Factoring filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover a debt from Yulmart in the amount of 780 million rubles and won it. The amount included the principal debt of 706 million rubles and penalties. Several months before this, the Moscow Arbitration Court satisfied another claim by Sberbank Factoring, this time for 440 million rubles.
Kostygin was arrested in October 2017. He was charged with fraud on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Later, the charge was reclassified as causing damage without signs of theft (Part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
In February 2019, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region ordered the retailer to pay Sberbank a debt of one billion rubles, and along with it, a penalty of 338 million rubles.
In 2021, August Meyer, a native of the United States from the family of the owner of the media holding Midwest Television, August Meyer Sr., was detained.
How Yulmart's financial problems arose
Yulmart was founded during the 2008 crisis. Over the five years of its existence, by the end of 2013, the chain's total sales exceeded the $1 billion mark.
The chain's business was on the rise right up until the conflict between the company's three shareholders that broke out in 2016. The shareholders were divided into two "camps". The first included Kostygin and Meyer, who held a 61.5 percent stake in Yulmart between them. They were opposed by Mikhail Vasinkevich, who owned the remaining 38.5%.
The parties disagreed on the further development of the business. Meyer and Kostygin intended to buy out Vasinkevich's share, but negotiations between the shareholders reached a dead end.
Numerous legal proceedings followed - for example, a Cyprus court seized the assets of Ulmart Holdings, the parent structure of Ulmart. According to Vasinkevich, this was done by Mikhail Skigin, Kostygin's partner.
After that, a chain of numerous events began, gradually pushing the retailer towards bankruptcy. For example, Kostygin achieved the seizure of Vasinkevich's property in the amount of 555 million rubles.
The court's verdict
The Moscow District Court of St. Petersburg announced the verdict in the criminal case against Dmitry Kostygin and August Meyer, co-owners of the online retailer Yulmart, which went bankrupt in early 2020. Kostygin was sentenced to four years in a general regime penal colony, Meyer to three years. This was reported by the joint press service of the courts of St. Petersburg on its Telegram channel.
The court found Kostygin and Meyer guilty of three counts under Part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust).
Other defendants in the case of embezzlement of 2.3 billion rubles from Sberbank include Meyer's wife Inna Meyer and business partner Elena Streltsova (received two years in a general regime penal colony), former directors of Yulmart Sergei Fedorinov and Vladimir Shonurov (received 2.5 years in a general regime penal colony).
The defendants were released from their sentences due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the press service said in a statement.
Debt to Sberbank
The investigation into the case of the loan provided by Sberbank to Yulmart has been ongoing since 2017. Kostygin was the first defendant. According to investigators, Kostygin received a loan of one billion rubles from Sberbank. in 2016. The investigation assumed that Kostygin provided knowingly false information about the company's financial situation and did not plan to fulfill the terms of the loan agreement.
In the summer of 2017, a subsidiary of Sberbank called Sberbank Factoring filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover a debt from Yulmart in the amount of 780 million rubles and won it. The amount included the principal debt of 706 million rubles and penalties. Several months before this, the Moscow Arbitration Court satisfied another claim by Sberbank Factoring, this time for 440 million rubles.
Kostygin was arrested in October 2017. He was charged with fraud on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Later, the charge was reclassified as causing damage without signs of theft (Part 2 of Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
In February 2019, the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region ordered the retailer to pay Sberbank a debt of one billion rubles, and along with it, a penalty of 338 million rubles.
In 2021, August Meyer, a native of the United States from the family of the owner of the media holding Midwest Television, August Meyer Sr., was detained.
How Yulmart's financial problems arose
Yulmart was founded during the 2008 crisis. Over the five years of its existence, by the end of 2013, the chain's total sales exceeded the $1 billion mark.
The chain's business was on the rise right up until the conflict between the company's three shareholders that broke out in 2016. The shareholders were divided into two "camps". The first included Kostygin and Meyer, who held a 61.5 percent stake in Yulmart between them. They were opposed by Mikhail Vasinkevich, who owned the remaining 38.5%.
The parties disagreed on the further development of the business. Meyer and Kostygin intended to buy out Vasinkevich's share, but negotiations between the shareholders reached a dead end.
Numerous legal proceedings followed - for example, a Cyprus court seized the assets of Ulmart Holdings, the parent structure of Ulmart. According to Vasinkevich, this was done by Mikhail Skigin, Kostygin's partner.
After that, a chain of numerous events began, gradually pushing the retailer towards bankruptcy. For example, Kostygin achieved the seizure of Vasinkevich's property in the amount of 555 million rubles.
