"I am a law-abiding citizen!": the top officials of "Tatarstan Bank" were arrested for bribery of 500 thousand

      From Friday to Monday, law enforcement initiated a new corruption case against Alexander Slepo.

      Photo: Dinar Fatykhov

      A minute ago, the Kazan court sent top manager of the "Bank of Tatarstan" branch of PJSC "Sberbank" Alexander Slepo to pre-trial detention. He spent almost five days in detention status in a case involving a bribe of 300,000 rubles for general protection of a contractor, as the judge was unable to make a decision on the Investigative Committee's request for arrest during the first attempt last Friday. Today, law enforcement presented information about the initiation of a bribery case for another 200,000 rubles, indicating that there are materials related to two more potential episodes. Slepo insists he only received money once and not as a bribe, as reported from the court by a journalist from "Realnoe Vremya."

      Over the weekend, the positions of the parties did not change — the investigator, supported by the assistant prosecutor of the Soviet district, requested the banker be placed in custody, while Slepo denied guilt, and his lawyers pointed out the lack of real attempts to hide, destroy evidence, or pressure witnesses from two years ago.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      By today, the deputy head of the investigative department for the Soviet district of Kazan, Bulat Karimov, presented a package of new materials for the case, requesting to attach them to the motion for the arrest of the accused. This included a report from the FSB of Tatarstan about signs of a crime in Slepo's actions and a ruling to initiate a new case against him for large-scale bribery — 200,000 rubles. Law enforcement believes that in December 2024, this amount was received by the deputy manager of the branch through an intermediary, the same private entrepreneur mentioned in the first episode of the case. The woman confirmed this during additional questioning, stating that this bribe was related to providing services for conducting a sports mass event.

      The investigation also revealed correspondence between the already guilty intermediary Atlyakina and the briber Polukeeva, where the former writes: "Did you see the money? When can you bring the cash? It needs to be given to the management." The latter shows no confusion and replies: "The money has arrived. I'll try to withdraw it tomorrow."

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      Additionally, information was disclosed at the hearing regarding the case of the already arrested lead engineer of the construction department of "Bank of Tatarstan," Ramil Mukhametov. According to law enforcement, he is responsible for two bribes of 80,000 and 300,000 rubles, respectively, related to repair work in the main building of the branch.

      It was also stated that both episodes have already been connected, but Slepo has not yet been interrogated in the new case. Furthermore, according to Karimov, it could be concluded that the investigative group already has information about other crimes that still need to be assessed.

      The accused's lawyers did not object to the inclusion of new evidence but pointed out that they do not constitute evidence of involvement. Rustam Gubaidullin criticized law enforcement for opting for quantity over quality, providing interrogation protocols for the same individuals in the second episode as in the first. He suggested that to avoid arrest and earn future release from criminal liability under the note, the ladies agreed to provide what the investigation needed.

      The main argument of the defense is that their client did not have the authority to conduct the procurement competition, choose the supplier, or sign the acts of completed work. To confirm this, they presented a survey of the director of the Volga-Vyatka bank department today.

      At the same time, lawyer Yulia Zarubina reminded the court that during the protocols of the face-to-face confrontations in the first episode, the intermediaries were asked whether the fact of receiving 300,000 was singular. Atlyakina, according to the defender, answered affirmatively, while Polukeeva was evasive, saying she could not remember if there were other episodes.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      The defense also reminded that since the day of his detention, Alexander Slepo has made no attempts to conceal information from law enforcement, voluntarily provided the password to his mobile phone, and granted access to his email.

      The banker insisted he has no intention of hiding; on the contrary, he intends to defend his rights: "I have been cooperating with the investigation from the very beginning, and I do not intend to hide my data, destroy evidence, or influence witnesses in the case. Nor do I intend to hide. I am a law-abiding citizen, a diligent taxpayer!"

      Let us recall that law enforcement considers the central office of Sberbank in Kazan on Butlerova Street to be the site of the first crime. It was there in September 2024 that cash was allegedly handed over, according to FSB and Ministry of Internal Affairs operatives, as well as employees of the Investigative Committee's department for the Soviet district of Kazan. It has been established that the entrepreneur, who conducted a series of events for Sberbank, withdrew this amount from her account at the terminal, placed it in an envelope, and handed it to an employee, who then passed the envelope to the deputy manager himself. Three hours later, he also used the ATM in the central office and credited the cash to his account. After almost two years, the internal bank security service identified a complete match of the serial numbers of the banknotes withdrawn by the client and credited by the non-standard employee of Sberbank and shared this information with law enforcement.

      Dinar Fatykhov / realnoevremya.ru

      The Investigative Committee initiated a case under paragraph "b" of part 5 of article 290 of the Criminal Code — receiving a bribe by an official through an intermediary using their official position. Alexander Slepo, after his detention, only acknowledged receiving and crediting 300,000 rubles, calling it reimbursement of his expenses.

      From the materials announced at the hearing, it became clear that, in addition to Slepo, three women were detained in the case — the alleged briber and two intermediaries. None of them were brought to court for a preventive measure; all provided confessions. The nuance is that separate cases were initiated against these women, so in the case of the Sberbank top manager, they are currently considered witnesses. It was also stated that the very same 300,000 rubles were taken from the amount of a state contract for half a million allocated for holding a meeting of bankers for 70 people in the IT park building. The defense's version is that the contract recipient only handed over the part of the money that Slepo personally spent on conducting the event.

      The defense insisted, following their client, that it was he who incurred the expenses for conducting the banking event, although they did not specify to journalists what exactly was purchased. Notably, one of the sources of "Realnoe Vremya" claims that during the interrogation and in the course of the face-to-face confrontation, the detained banker allegedly stated that the format of "reimbursing expenses for the corporate event in August by conducting a tender for an off-site meeting in September" was chosen "collectively." This occurred either once or periodically, which the investigation may establish. It should be noted that in such an interpretation of events, one can also see the composition of fraud with the diversion of funds from the bank's budget, which is 50% and one voting share owned by the Russian Federation.

      By the way, representatives of the bank's legal department and press service attended the hearings as listeners.

      The defense intends to appeal today's court decision.

      More news about the event:

      "I am a law-abiding citizen!": The top manager of "Bank of Tatarstan" was arrested for bribes of 500,000

      From Friday to Monday, law enforcement initiated a new corruption case against Alexander Slepo.

      Photo: 12:16 10.08.2026 Realnoe Vremya - Kazan

      The court arrested the deputy manager of Tatarstan Sberbank for the second time

      The Soviet district court of Kazan placed the deputy manager of the Tatarstan branch of Sberbank, Alexander Slepo, in custody, reports a correspondent from "BUSINESS Online" from the courtroom. 12:14 10.08.2026 Business Online - Kazan