admitted guilty
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a preliminary inquiry into businessman Viktor Baturin. He stands accused of attempting fraud to seize 25% of Inteko and of presenting false evidence in an arbitration dispute.
According to a source familiar with ongoing proceedings, Baturin has reportedly confessed to most charges and is expected to begin reviewing the criminal case materials this week as part of the process. His defense attorney has clarified that, beyond the preliminary inquiry, the charges include two counts of falsifying evidence related to the alleged transaction and attempted fraud. Elena Baturina, identified as a victim in the case, declined to comment on the disclosures.
The essence of the charges
Prosecutors allege that Baturin falsified documents connected to a civil matter involving a deal with his sister that purportedly granted him a right of first refusal to repurchase Inteko shares. They also accuse him of seeking to acquire 25% of Inteko, valued at approximately 13.8 billion rubles, using the same fraudulent documentation within a bankruptcy proceeding.
The contested agreement traces back to a long-running feud between the Baturins that began in the late 2000s. Since the 1990s, Elena and Viktor co-owned Inteko on equal terms. A divorce agreement later allotted Elena half of Viktor’s stake, which she was required to repurchase. In 2001, Viktor transferred the remaining 25% to his sister verbally but remained Inteko’s vice president until 2005. The dispute escalated into public accusations and court battles, eventually leading to an amicable settlement in 2007.
Investigators contend that Viktor Baturin filed a suit with the Moscow Arbitration Court in October 2011 seeking nullification of the sale and purchase of Inteko’s shares, thereby transferring ownership rights. He allegedly relied on an annex to the agreement with Elena that supposedly bound her to refrain from selling her shares without his consent and guaranteed a preemptive purchase right, along with a promise to pay 25% of the share value upon request.
Lawyers for Elena Baturina argued at the Arbitration Court that no such provision existed in the annex and that all obligations to Viktor had been fulfilled. Both sides accused the other of falsification, and the court dismissed Viktor Baturin’s claims.
In 2016, Viktor Baturin was declared bankrupt. The court-appointed financial director noted that the arrangement to transfer 25% of Inteko did not signal a genuine change in ownership but appeared to be a placeholder. The contested shares had been registered by Elena Baturina’s team in 2007 and later surfaced in bankruptcy documents as a debt owed to Viktor. The witness who managed the alleged value of those shares, Erenzen Manzheev, is also a witness in the criminal case against Viktor Baturin.
how the case unfolded
In 2017 Elena Baturina, with legal support, submitted a request to the deputy head of the criminal investigation department of the interior ministry. A criminal case was opened against unknown persons for attempted fraud, and both Viktor Baturin and Manzheev were questioned as witnesses. The investigation was subsequently paused, and later, by order of the Moscow prosecutor, the case was transferred to the Moscow Investigative Committee at the start of 2020. In April 2021, the materials were escalated to the federal level and entrusted to senior investigators, culminating in Viktor Baturin being summoned and detained for questioning.
previous cases
Viktor Baturin has prior legal trouble. In 2011 he faced charges of attempted fraud tied to Inteko invoices. He denied the accusations, describing himself as the victim of slander while a former Inteko executive called him deceitful. The executive later led Inteko in construction and materials, serving as vice president and then chairman in different years. In 2013, Baturin received a seven-year sentence in a general regime colony, with a prior suspended sentence for real estate fraud. He was released on parole in 2016, following bankruptcy declarations and ongoing debt disputes.