Disappearance of a German businessman in Moscow: criminal case, court, where he was found

German investor Ralf Novak did not appear at the announcement of the verdict in the criminal case against him for the theft of shares in the car sharing company BelkaCar in the Tushinsky Court of Moscow, and he was put on the wanted list.

As it became known, Novak, who was under house arrest during the trial, became nervous about the upcoming verdict and was hospitalized with a suspected hypertensive attack. Now the German businessman is in a private clinic, doctors must assess his condition.

Businessman panicked for fear of going to jail

On Monday, June 3, the Tushinsky court sentenced Novak to five years in a general regime colony with a fine of 800 thousand rubles. The second defendant, Ilnur Azmukhanov, received four years in prison with a fine of 500 thousand rubles. The court also decided to recover from them a civil claim from the injured party in the amount of 393 million rubles.

At the same time, as Der Spiegel writes, 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.

As his lawyer Konstantin Elfimov said, after the verdict the German “felt bad, was in a panic and was afraid of going to prison again.”

At the same time, from a legal point of view, Novak had little chance of receiving help, since, according to the Vienna Convention, the diplomatic mission would have to hand him over to the Russian authorities upon request.

The investigation into Novak began almost four years ago

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs began an investigation in September 2021 after Benedikt Sobotka, co-founder of the Swiss company Bryanston Resources AG, contacted the investigative authorities with a statement. 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 itself was fictitious, since no real payment for the securities was made.

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.