Ex-ASV Chief Sentenced to 4.5 Years for 4B Ruble Fraud

Moscow's Presnensky Court found former head of the Agency for Insurance Deposits (ASV) Andrey Melnikov guilty of particularly large embezzlement.

Consensus

Andrey Melnikov was sentenced by the Presnensky District Court of Moscow.
The sentence was 4.5 years in a general regime colony.
A fine of 900,000 rubles was imposed on Melnikov.
The court satisfied a civil claim from the former owners of the 'Akvamir' aquapark.
The amount recovered was over 4.2 billion rubles.
Melnikov admitted guilt and entered into a plea deal with the prosecution.
The case was heard in an expedited procedure.
The trial took place on October 20, 2026.
Melnikov's former deputy, Alexander Popelyukh, was also sentenced to four years in prison for a related fraud case.
Popelyukh provided testimony against Melnikov.
The fraud involved the misappropriation of revenues from the 'Akvamir' aquapark during its bankruptcy proceedings.
The aquapark was under the management of ASV after the bankruptcy of Mежtopenergobank.

Melnikov was arrested on October 23, 2025, and taken to the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. — vedomosti
Popelyukh was arrested in October 2024 by the FSB's investigative department. — vedomosti
Melnikov was the acting head of ASV at the time of his arrest. — vedomosti
Melnikov was interviewed by Kommersant in November 2024, stating that ASV had undergone internal reforms and improved efficiency. — vedomosti
Olga Dolgoleva, another former ASV deputy, was arrested in May 2025. — vedomosti
Two former ASV deputies admitted guilt in September 2025. — vedomosti
Nine individuals are involved in the case, including Evgeny Bogorad, Maxim Ustinov, Arkady Tarabrin, Irina Sokotun, Eduard Taran, Dmitry Voronin, and Natalia Mukhanova. — vedomosti
The court preserved the arrest on Melnikov's property before the verdict. — vedomosti
The court ordered the recovery of over 4.2 billion rubles from Melnikov in favor of company 'VDT Stroy'. — interfax
The fraud involved more than 4 billion rubles taken from 'VDT Stroy', the former owner of 'Akvamir'. — interfax
The case involved a criminal scheme resulting in the theft of over four billion rubles. — vm
The court ordered the recovery of more than 4.2 billion rubles in favor of 'VDT Stroy'. — fontanka