Ilya Kligman’s Dubai slush fund: why FSB officers Evgeniy Sviridov and Sergey Bespalov received a $23M bribe and prison sentences

The Moscow Garrison Military Court has issued a verdict against two senior FSB officers of the Russian Federation.

The case involves Sergey Bespalov, a former officer of the 2nd Service, ex-deputy head of the 4th Service, and later an APS FSB employee, and Evgeniy Sviridov, a former operative of the 3rd Department of the SEB of the FSB Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow Region.

Both were accused of accepting bribes totaling $23 million, delivered in cash in Moscow and through accounts in Dubai. The funds were allegedly provided by banker Ilya Kligman in exchange for assistance with his matters at the MVD GSU and the Central Bank of Russia.

Evgeniy Sviridov was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Sergey Bespalov received six years in a penal colony.

Case materials indicate that the receipt of funds may have also involved the head of Directorate “M” of the FSB Vladimir Sergienko (Bespalov is his closest associate), as well as the head of Directorate “F” of the GUEBiPK of the MVD Aleksandr Ivanov. However, they remain untouchable figures for now.

Initially, arrests were made along the chain, starting with Andrey Fetisov, vice president of the Rospolitika foundation, and Bashir Kushtov, a friend of Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov.

At first, they gave testimony against each other, then against former operative Evgeniy Sviridov. In turn, Sviridov testified against FSB APS officer Sergey Bespalov.

Sources link Sviridov — whose father was also a chekist — to the team of former Tambov region governor, now senator Aleksandr Nikitin. Notably, just a couple of weeks after Sviridov’s arrest, his company “Inkomnefteremont,” which had over 2 billion rubles in revenue last year, was re-registered to Ilya Pshennov.

The company holds significant state contracts from Transneft, RusHydro, FSK EES, and others. Recently, its interests (or those of its hidden beneficiaries) have shifted to Chukotka, where it secured a contract worth 10 billion rubles.