Russian traders lived a life of luxury on £77 million fraud

Three City traders stole ‘well over $100million’ from their employers while staying at luxury hotels and enjoying meals at Michelin star restaurants, a court heard.

Georgy Urumov, 37, was allegedly part of a group that swindled Russian owned banking group Otkritie.

Urumov’s wife Yuri Balk, 36, is accused of laundering money from the fraud by spending £19m on a house in ‘Millionaire’s Row’ in St John’s Wood, northwest London.

Fellow traders Vladimir Gersamia, 33, and Alessandro Gherzi, 37, are also accused of being involvement in the scam.

Urumov and Gherzi both worked at Otkritie Securities Limited (OSL), part of the Otkritie Group, while Gersamia was employed by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited (TAM), Southwark Crown Court heard.

The alleged scam is said to have taken place over a 15 month period between mid-2010 and the end of 2011.

Robert O’Sullivan QC, prosecuting, said: ‘This case is about City traders and the dishonest lengths that they go to to make money, lots of money.

‘The first three defendants, the male defendants, were highly paid employees of city investment brokers who used their specialist knowledge and experience to conspire to extract millions of dollars from their employers through bogus trades.

‘They then devised an elaborate plan together with the fourth defendant to launder the proceeds of the fraud, that is to funnel the money through a series of offshore company bank accounts in quite an elaborate scheme.

‘At its height the first defendant, Mr Urumov, and the fourth defendant, Ms Balk, who are husband and wife purchased a house on what could be genuinely called Millionaire’s Row.’

The prosecutor said Balk helped launder cash by purchasing a house in (42) The Avenue, St John’s Wood, for £19million.

‘The prosecution say here are individuals who lied and deceived their employers with the sole aim of enriching themselves and some others.

‘Both OSL and Threadneedle, unbeknown to their senior management, played essential roles in the defendants’ plans and those two companies stood to lose – or did lose – well over $100million.

‘You will be travelling to some pretty exotic places round the world – figuratively that is.’

Mr O’Sullivan said large sums of cash ‘whistled from account to account’ in the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Panama, Geneva, Zurich, Lithuania, Latvia and Bulgaria.

‘When we are in London, which is where they were based and their employers had their offices, you will be dining in Michelin star restaurants and staying in five star hotels in the West End.

‘This was not a fraud that was done on the cheap.

‘They are all foreign-born but they lived in this country for a number of years.

‘They are all educated, they are highly intelligent and they are all fluent in at least English and Russian.’

Urumov, of Ordnance Hill, St John’s Wood, denies two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, two of conspiracy to defraud, and one of money laundering.

Balk, also of Ordnance Hill, St John’s Wood, denies two counts concerning money laundering.

Gherzi, of Jermyn Street, Westminster, denies two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, two of conspiracy to defraud, and one of money laundering.

Gersamia, of Fairmont Avenue, Poplar, denies two counts relating to fraud and one of money laundering.

The trial, which is expected to last around four months, continues.