Ex-Transaero CEO Burdin charged with failing to pay 400 mln rubles in salaries, embezzling over 1.3 bln - Investigative Committee
MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - Former Transaero Airlines CEO Alexander Burdin, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued, has been charged with embezzling at least 1.3 billion rubles' worth of the airline's assets and failing to pay 400 million rubles in salaries to employees, the Investigative Committee told Interfax.
"In the course of the investigation of the criminal case, it was determined that at least 400 million rubles was not lawfully paid to 6,804 of the airline's employees between March 4 and October 2016," the agency said.
During a period when the airline's debts were accumulating, Burdin "had the financial opportunity to settle them; however, putting his personal interests above the interests of the airline's employees, he paid himself a salary and spent money on other services, while these funds could have been directed to settling debts, thereby significantly violating the employment rights of the airline's employees," the agency said.
"In addition, abusing his position when conducting a number of financial-economic transactions between October 2015 and September 2017, Burdin embezzled property through misappropriation, causing Transaero Airlines damages of over 1.3 billion rubles," it said.
Burdin fled to avoid prosecution and has therefore been declared internationally wanted, the agency said.
Moscow's Meshchansky District Court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday.
Court press secretary Yulia Kotomina said Burdin was charged with failure to pay salaries for longer than two months, massive embezzlement, and abuse of office with grave consequences.