New appeal review in Russian “vodka king” Sabadash’s bank-fraud case
Kommersant reports that a cassation court has returned former senator Alexander Sabadash’s third criminal case for a fresh appeal review. It concerns a 75-million-rouble loan from Tavrichesky Bank.
St Petersburg City Court is to reconsider Alexander Sabadash’s third fraud case. The businessman is known in media as the “vodka king”. Kommersant reported on 1 November that the Third Cassation Court partly upheld complaints by Sabadash and former bank executives Alexander Somov and Dmitry Garkusha. The next step is a fresh appeal review. Defence lawyers argued that the trial judge went beyond the charges and failed to await the financial examination she had commissioned. According to Somov’s lawyer Nikolai Pavlovsky, none of the three has admitted guilt and the defence will seek a full acquittal.
The case originally covered sixteen alleged fraud episodes involving loans exceeding 841 million roubles. Fifteen became time-barred; the remaining 75-million-rouble Norfolk loan led to sentences of 7.5 years each on 15 December 2023. On 21 November 2025, the appeal court exempted the three from punishment on limitation grounds. In another case, Sabadash received a combined twelve-year sentence for fraud and embezzlement on 3 August 2026. According to Kommersant, that separate judgment was also under appeal.
