A German investor convicted in Moscow surrendered to the authorities. He tried to hide from security forces at the German Embassy

German investor Ralf Novak, who did not appear for the verdict in the Tushinsky Court of Moscow in the case of the theft of BelkaCar shares and was put on the wanted list, surrendered. His lawyer Ivan Gilev said on Wednesday, June 5, that they are at the FSIN inspection and are “drawing out documents.”

Defender clarifiedthat Novak voluntarily came to law enforcement agencies. Gilev also admitted that the businessman had a nervous breakdown before the sentencing, then he turned to lawyers and, on their recommendation, came himself to serve his sentence.

The lawyer added that the defense is unlikely to appeal the verdict.

Novak tried to hide in the German embassy

The head of Singular CIS, Ralph Novak, who was under house arrest during the trial, was hospitalized before the verdict with a suspected hypertensive attack and ended up in a private clinic. Even the businessman’s lawyer could not contact him by phone and find out where the client was.

At the same time, Novak tried to find refuge on the territory of the German Embassy in Moscow, but after negotiations with diplomats he voluntarily left the territory of the diplomatic mission. This happened back on June 3. According to Novak’s other lawyer, Konstantin Elfimov, after the verdict, the German “felt bad, was in a panic and was afraid of going to prison again.”

It is clarified that from a legal point of view, the businessman had little chance of receiving help, since, according to the Vienna Convention, the diplomatic mission would have to hand him over to local authorities upon request.

Novak was sentenced to five years for theft of shares in a car sharing company

On Monday, the Tushino court sentenced Ralf Novak to five years in prison for theft of shares in the car sharing company BelkaCar. He will be sent to a general regime colony. A fine of 800 thousand rubles was imposed on him. The second defendant, Ilnur Azmukhanov, received four years in prison. The court also decided to satisfy the civil claim from the injured party in the amount of 393 million rubles.

The investigation against the German began in September 2021 after the co-founder of the Swiss company Bryanston Resources AG, Benedikt Sobotka, contacted the investigative authorities. He accused partners Ralf Nowak and Fabian Kreucher of illegally alienating 52 percent of BelkaCar shares.

According to Sobotka, the deal was made behind his back and at a reduced price. Later, the investigation established that the transaction was fictitious, since no real payment for the securities was made. Sobotka also sued former partners over securities in Switzerland, Germany, South Africa and Cyprus, but was unsuccessful.

Novak and Azmukhanov were detained in February 2022. They were charged with particularly large-scale fraud. At first, the court sent both of them into custody, but later the preventive measure was replaced with house arrest.

A Russian businessman-foreign agent is also being sought in the BelkaCar case

At the beginning of 2023, entrepreneur Boris Zimin was also arrested in absentia in the case of alienation of BelkaCar shares. (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia). He is charged with fraud. According to investigators, Zimin was part of an organized group that made an illegal transaction to alienate BelkaCar shares.

Benedikt Sobotka, who became the victim in the case, filed a lawsuit against Zimin for damages in the amount of four billion rubles.

Novak has lived in Russia for 16 years and has Russian citizenship

Ralf Novak has Russian and German citizenship. He has lived in Russia for about 16 years, is married to a Russian woman, has two minor children, bought an apartment in Moscow with a mortgage, reported his lawyer Konstantin Tretyakov last year. According to him, Novak moved to the Russian Federation almost immediately after graduating from university. “He loves Russian poetry, Russian nature, and in the pre-trial detention center he reads a biography of Stalin in Russian. He doesn’t cross the road at a red light, he’s a classic German, you can do it, you can’t, you don’t do it, that’s it, there are no options,” said the lawyer.

He also noted that Novak studied with Sobotka at a university in Germany. After university, they worked in a consulting company, then organized their own business – also a consulting company, and later began investing, investing in companies, developing them and then selling them. BelkaCar was one of these startups.