LONDON (Reuters) -A prominent Russian businessman cannot pause an $850 million fraud lawsuit brought by two Russian banks despite one of the banks being subject to British sanctions, the High Court in London ruled on Friday.
Boris Mints and his sons Dmitry, Alexander and Igor are being sued by National Bank Trust, which is 99% owned by the Central Bank of Russia, on behalf of Bank Otkritie, once Russia’s largest private lender before it collapsed in 2017.
Lawyers representing the Mints family – who deny the banks’ fraud allegations – say the lawsuit should be indefinitely put on hold because, if the banks win at trial, any damages could not be paid as Bank Otkritie is under British sanctions.
At a hearing in December, Judge Sara Cockerill was told by lawyers for Dmitry and Alexander Mints that any money recovered could be used to “indirectly fund the war in Ukraine”.
However, Cockerill dismissed Mints’ application on Friday. The judge said her written ruling containing her reasons for refusing to pause the case would be published on Friday afternoon.
She also granted permission to appeal against her decision to both the Mints family and the banks, saying: “It is plainly a case with far wider implications.”
The Mints’ unsuccessful application to put the lawsuit on hold – which will now be considered by the Court of Appeal – represents one of the first legal tests of Britain’s sanctions regime in relation to Russia.
A spokesperson for the Mints family said they were disappointed with the judgment but were pleased to be given permission to appeal.
“We continue to believe that due to the critical role National Bank Trust plays in financing the Putin administration, our hearings against both parties should be stayed until such time when sanctions against the agents of the Russian state are lifted,” they said in a statement.
A spokesperson for National Bank Trust said in a statement: “The Mints family’s application to dismiss the case is a crude attempt to avoid English justice.”
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Elizabeth Piper, Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)
