Russian state-controlled lenders National Bank Trust PJSC and Otkritie Financial Corp. Bank added fraud allegations against the former executives and owners of B&N Bank and Otkritie itself to an ongoing London lawsuit against Russian businessman Boris Mints and his sons, RBC reported Aug. 12.

National Bank Trust, which now operates as Russia's bad bank, launched London proceedings against Boris Mints already in July 2019, and claims against B&N Bank former owner Mikail Shishkhanov, Otkritie ex-shareholder Vadim Belyaev, as well as the latter's former management board head Evgeny Dankevich, were added at the beginning of August this year.

The claimants accuse Shishkhanov, Belyaev and Dankevich of authorizing dubious transactions involving bonds of Boris Mints' O1 Group. The transactions, worth close to $1 billion, took place shortly before the 2017 bailouts of Otkritie and B&N Bank and their subsequent takeover by the Russian central bank.

Mints and his family deny the Russian banks' allegations and plan to contest them during the London proceedings, while Dankevich's lawyer referred to the disputed transactions as transparent and lawful. Shishkhanov declined to comment, and Belyaev's lawyer was unable to answer RBC's questions, the newswire noted.