DIA may obtain rights to a loan issued to Marine Le Pen's party

Brief retelling from RIA II

The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) can receive claims for 9.5 million euros on a loan issued in Russia in 2014 to the French National Front party.

In 2016, the Bank of Russia revoked the license of the First Czech-Russian Bank (FCRB) due to unsatisfactory asset quality and inadequate risk assessment.

In 2018, the Moscow Arbitration Court recognized the transfer of the right of claim to the Aviazapchast company as legal, but in September of this year it canceled the judicial act due to newly discovered circumstances.

MOSCOW, October 12 - RIA Novosti. The rights of claim for 9.5 million euros on a loan issued in Russia in 2014 to the French National Front party (now the National Rally), headed by Marine Le Pen, can be obtained by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), follows from materials at the disposal of RIA Novosti.

In the fall of 2014, it became known that the National Front received a loan from the First Czech-Russian Bank (FCRB). Previously, Le Pen reported that the National Front submitted “loan applications to all French banks, but none of them agreed.” Some members of the French parliament were then planning to create a commission to investigate the issue of foreign funding.

In 2016, the Bank of Russia revoked FCRB’s license to carry out banking operations because, given the unsatisfactory quality of its assets, the bank did not adequately assess the risks it took.

Prior to this, FCRB Bank ceded its rights of claim to the National Front to the Konti company, controlled by the bank’s management, and a few months later it transferred them to the Aviazapchast company.

Subsequently, the DIA in the bank bankruptcy case challenged both transactions, but the Moscow Arbitration Court in 2018 recognized the legality of the transfer of the right of claim to Aviazapchasti.

However, in September of this year, the court canceled its judicial act due to newly discovered circumstances, satisfying the application of the DIA.

Circumstances that are important for the dispute surrounding the loan to Marine Le Pen’s party were established as part of a criminal case against the senior vice president of FCRB Bank, Dmitry Merkulov. He was convicted of theft of bank property on an especially large scale through embezzlement in favor of controlled persons and organizations.

From the verdict of the Basmanny Court, which entered into force in November 2024, it follows that the agreement under which FCRB Bank in 2016 ceded the rights of claim to the National Front to the Conti company was imaginary - the bank received nothing under it, technical entries were displayed by bank employees after hours without real movement of money.

In December, the court will re-examine the DIA's statement about the illegality of two transactions - the transfer of claims rights first to Konti LLC, then to Aviazapchast JSC. If it is satisfied, the creditor's rights will return to FCRB Bank represented by DIA.