OREANDA-NEWS "Rolf" car dealer and its founder Sergey Petrov were ordered to pay 19.4 billion rubles in favor of the state. This decision was made by the Khimki City Court of the Moscow region, thereby satisfying the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The businessman's representative announced his intention to appeal the verdict.

"We believe that there are no grounds for such a decision, this is especially evident in the part of the awarded joint liability of an individual with legal entities. There is a "Rolf", which for some reason should be jointly and severally liable for offenses attributed to Sergei Petrov, joint and several liability does not apply without a victim, but Russia, whose treasury is being claimed for money, has not suffered damage," TASS quoted lawyer Alexei Kupriyanov as saying.

As "Rolf" CEO Svetlana Vinogradova told RBC, the company will be able to comment on the court's decision after it receives the full text of the document. She added that the money can be recovered only after the court decision comes into force.

A criminal case against Petrov and other company executives was opened in June 2019. According to investigators, in 2014, the owner of "Rolf", Sergey Petrov, illegally withdrew 4 billion rubles to the accounts of the Cyprus company Panabel Limited controlled by him. Petrov is accused under the article on transferring money to non-resident accounts using forged documents.

In November 2021, the prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit to recover 12.85 billion rubles from the "Rolf" car dealer and its founder. Petrov's property was arrested, but the company's dealerships continued to operate.

Later it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office increased the amount of claims against Sergey Petrov and "Rolf" by 6.5 billion rubles - up to 19.4 billion rubles.

According to the prosecutor's office, Petrov was engaged in entrepreneurship as a deputy in 2007-2016, which is prohibited by law. The supervisory authority stated that Petrov fictitiously transferred the management of "Rolf" to his son, but continued to head the company and receive income that he did not declare.