"Not a bribe, but reimbursement of expenses!": the court could not choose a preventive measure for the top of "Tatarstan Bank"

      Three employees of the Investigative Committee participated in the meeting, and the detained Alexander Slepow denied his guilt in corruption.

      Photo: Dinar Fatykhov

      Just now, the Soviet District Court of Kazan extended the detention of Alexander Slepow, the deputy manager of the regional branch of "Bank Tatarstan" of PJSC "Sberbank," for 72 hours. By Monday, Judge Sergey Aptulin asked investigators to present additional data to justify suspicions against the banker regarding a corruption crime. At the meeting, the accused, who is charged with taking a bribe of 300 thousand, confirmed receiving this amount from a contractor. "This is not a bribe, but reimbursement of my expenses!" - reports the court from the journalist of "Realnoe Vremya."

      As our sources note, there are testimonies in the case indicating that a meeting of the regional branch in the IT park building in September 2024, for which half a million was allocated from the budget, did not take place. And this money was used to cover expenses for a bank corporate event held in August — with a trip to the river, renting glamping, and paddleboards.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Three employees of the Investigative Committee for the Soviet District of Kazan participated in the meeting. The request for Slepow's detention was made by the deputy head of the department, Bulat Karimov. His position was fully supported by the deputy prosecutor of the district, Elza Khisamutdinova.

      Lawyers Rustam Gubaidullin and Yulia Zarubina opposed this. They stated about the impeccable career of Alexander Slepow in the bank for more than 20 years and that since the time of the alleged events in 2024, he had made no attempts to hide or cover up his actions.

      At the meeting, the accused in the bribe reminded that he has been working at Sber since 1999: "I have gone from a substitute cashier to the position of deputy manager of the branch... I supervise cash centers where there is security, valuables, and weapons. I have repeatedly conducted training [for employees] on what constitutes inadequate behavior. I regularly undergo polygraph tests and know what this is."

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      It further became clear that the banker considers the motive for the actions he is accused of — the deposit of the same banknotes into his personal account that a private entrepreneur — the alleged bribe giver — had withdrawn earlier at the central branch of the bank.

      "I admit that I took the amount from the contractor through my employees. But this was not a bribe, but an amount that reimbursed my expenses! <...> And this amount is confirmed <...> Not a bribe, but real reimbursement of incurred expenses! I am not so foolish as to deposit an amount into my credit card, knowing what such deviant behavior is..."

      In response to the judge's clarifying question about the reasons for what happened, the accused explained that recently in one of the Tatarstan branches, one of the employees was detained for bribery, after which the internal bank security service began checking all incoming funds to employees' accounts. At the same time, Slepow reiterated that there is no element of bribery in his actions. "I do not deny the fact of receiving funds. Polukejeva, Kekina, and Bagavieva were detained, and to avoid getting into a pre-trial detention center, I believe they slandered me," the accused stated.

      Recall that according to the version of the Investigative Committee, FSB, and Ministry of Internal Affairs employees, the deputy head of the bank's regional branch received an illegal reward of 300 thousand rubles in September 2024 — for patronage of a service provider and assistance in obtaining contracts. At the meeting, Bulat Karimov noted that the money was transferred through an intermediary.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      From the materials announced at the meeting, it became clear that, in addition to Slepow, three women were detained in the case — the alleged bribe giver and two intermediaries. None of them were brought to court for preventive measures, as they all gave confessions. The nuance is that separate cases were initiated against these women, so in the case of the Sber top, they are currently being treated as witnesses.

      It was also mentioned that the very 300 thousand rubles were taken from the amount of a government contract for half a million, allocated for holding a bankers' meeting for 70 people in the IT park building. The defense's version is that the recipient of the contract only transferred the part of the money that was personally spent by Slepow on the event.

      The defense's position was based on several arguments. The key one was the absence of Slepow's authority to choose a contractor, as the local branch only formulates requests, while the organization of tenders and the determination of the winner is handled by a Sber division located in Nizhny Novgorod. Whoever they choose — that is who Slepow will work with, the lawyers emphasized, also noting that the contract with the supplier and the acts of completed work were signed by another person at "Bank Tatarstan."

      At the same time, the defenders, following their client, insisted that he incurred the expenses for holding the banking event, although they did not specify to journalists what exactly was purchased. It should be noted that one of the sources of "Realnoe Vremya" claims that during the interrogation and in the course of a confrontation, the detained banker allegedly stated that the format of "reimbursing expenses for the corporate event in August by holding a tender for an off-site meeting in September" was chosen "collectively." This happened only once, or periodically — possibly the investigation will establish. It should be noted that in such an interpretation of events, one can also see the elements of fraud with the diversion of funds from the bank's budget, which is 50% owned by the Russian Federation and has one voting share.

      Earlier, a version published by one of the publications about a kickback for the renovation of Sber's headquarters does not correspond to reality. But in theory, the story of the renovation could become a new episode in the case.

      A repeated hearing on the preventive measure is scheduled for Monday. And today evening, the women detained in the case of the transfer of 300 thousand rubles were released under a written undertaking not to leave and an obligation to appear.

      More news about the event:

      "It was not a bribe, but expenses that I incurred!": the deputy manager of Tatarstan Sber was returned to the pre-trial detention center.

      Alexander Slepow's detention was extended for another 72 hours.

      "I regularly undergo polygraph tests and value my job very much." 19:08 07.08.2026 Business Online - Kazan

      The detention of the deputy manager of Tatarstan Sber was extended for 72 hours.

      The Soviet District Court of Kazan extended the detention of Alexander Slepow, the deputy manager of the Tatarstan branch of Sber, for 72 hours. 18:38 07.08.2026 Business Online - Kazan

      "It is not a bribe, but reimbursement of expenses!": the court could not choose a preventive measure for the top of "Bank Tatarstan."

      Three employees of the Investigative Committee participated in the meeting, and the detained Alexander Slepow denied his guilt in corruption.

      Photo: 18:33 07.08.2026 Realnoe Vremya - Kazan

      The Investigative Committee requests the arrest of the deputy head of "Bank Tatarstan" in the bribery case.

      News Service Author of the article

      AI Illustration created with the help of AI

      Alexander Slepow, the deputy head of the "Bank Tatarstan" branch of Sberbank, was brought to the Soviet District Court of Kazan. 17:47 07.08.2026 ProKazan.Ru - Kazan