Russian airline boss, 46, accused of £2.3million fraud while working at VIM airlines should not be extradited because jails in her homeland are unsafe, court hears
- Alevtina Kalashnikova, 46, allegedly stole 212million rubles from 2014 and 2017
- She appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today with a Miu Miu handbag
- Kalahsnikova allegedly used the now defunct VIM airlines to transfer currencies
A Russian airline boss accused of a £2.3 million fraud should not be extradited because jails in her homeland are unsafe, a court heard today.
Alevtina Kalashnikova, 46, stole 212,325,636 Russian rubles by fiddling statements while working at VIM Airlines in between 2014 and 2017, prosecutors claim.
The deputy general director allegedly worked alongside CEO Alexander Kochnev to use the now defunct air carrier as a pyramid scheme moving foreign currency into their own accounts.
Alevtina Kalashnikova, 46, the former deputy general director of now defunct VIM Airlines is accused of £2.3 million fraud but should not be extradited because jails in her homeland are unsafe, a court heard today
Blonde Kalashnikova appeared in the public gallery at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today wearing beige heels and carrying a brown Miu Miu handbag
Blonde Kalashnikova appeared in the public gallery at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today wearing beige heels and carrying a brown Miu Miu handbag.
She spoke only to confirm her details and ask for a Russian interpreter during the full extradition hearing fixed for 16 November.
Hugo Keith QC, for Kalashnikova, said: ‘Mrs Kalashinkova is wanted to stand trial in Russia. She was deputy general director of an airline called VIM based in Moscow.’
In September 2017, VIM Airlines CEO Alexander Kochnev and Chief Accountant Yekaterina Panteleyeva were arrested after an embezzlement case against the employers of the company. Pictured: the pair appear at a hearing at Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court in December 2019
Alexander Kochnev was detained on suspicion of fraud, is escorted by police officers ahead of the hearing
Mr Keith said the defence would rely on evidence from academic Dr Samuel Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King’s College London (KCL), in their fight against extradition to Moscow.
He said: ‘Mrs Kalashnikova was charged four days after a criminal case was instigated in 2017.
‘She was bailed on relatively light terms and the order that the defence case be ordered by today, well we are almost entirely ready.
‘We rely on evidence from Dr Greene, an expert in political science and a (different) expert in prisons.
‘You will know of the historical difficulty the Russian federation finds itself in in providing effective and satisfactory assurances to this court with prison monitoring.
‘It’s quite possible that by September the Russians are unable to provide any credible assurance at all.
‘We ask for the extradition hearing to be fixed now for November and I have spoken with Mr Caldwell (for the Russian federation) about this.’
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser released Kalashnikova on bail.
She will return for a full three-day extradition hearing which will decide her fate on November 16.