Vadim Zhurakovskiy
Advocate, Partner, Head of Criminal Defence
Head of the practice. 12 years in bank management: from head of the legal department to deputy chairman of the management board and chairman of the board of directors.
Solution for banks
Criminal defence for banks, their shareholders and employees
- Preparing for inspections and investigative actions
- Lawyer on call 24/7
- Defence at every stage
- Our own technology platform
Duty lawyer: +7 999 333-96-10
24/7lawyer on call
Who we defend
The bank, its owners and every employee
The bank as an organisation
Including as a victim and as the owner of seized property.
Shareholders and beneficial owners
Executives and employees
At any level — from the management board to a junior employee summoned for questioning.
What is included
Four elements of defence
- 01
The “Drill” programme. The bank is prepared for an inspection and a search in advance.
- 02
Panic button and lawyer 24/7. Call-outs across Moscow and the Moscow region.
- 03
Defence at every stage. From the pre-investigation check to court at any level.
- 04
Several executives. Defence without the risk of counsel being removed.
The “Drill” programme
The bank is ready for an enforcement scenario before it happens
Stage
01 Criminal risk audit
What we do
Risk map: procedure, legal qualification, who is at risk, what to do now
Result
Confidential report for the management board
Stage
02 Action protocols
What we do
During a search; when an employee is questioned; when answering investigators’ requests with regard to banking secrecy; when dealing with the regulator, head office, investigators and the press
Result
Everyone knows what to do in the first hour
Stage
03 Staff training
What we do
Role-based training, a mock search with an “investigation team”, guides: “Your rights and obligations”, “The first 15 minutes”, “What not to do”
Result
Staff do not improvise under pressure
Stage
04 Panic button
What we do
One number and one channel in the app, duty lawyer 24/7
Result
Employees do not need to look for a lawyer’s number
Panic button
One call point — and the lawyer is already on the way
- 01
One number and one channel
A button in the app; cards and QR codes with the contact at reception, security and management.
- 02
A team of lawyers
A team is assigned to the bank. If one lawyer is busy, another comes: materials and case history are in a single channel, so no time is lost getting up to speed.
- 03
Duty lawyer around the clock
Call-outs across Moscow and the region to searches, operational measures and questioning.
- 04
Our own app, not just a number
One tap: location to the lawyer, notification to family, audio monitoring of the situation, phone lock. The lawyer gets everything needed for the call-out without a phone call.
- 05
First-hour documents ready in advance
Defence starts immediately, without paperwork on the run. For head office — a short report: what happened, what has been done, what the risks and next steps are.
When they come
Defence from the first knock on the door to court
- 1
Searches and operational measures
Lawyer call-out, control of legality, objections in the record
- 2
Pre-investigation check
The most important stage: with active defence a refusal to open a case can be achieved
- 3
Questioning of management and staff
Preparation and support
- 4
Detention and pre-trial restraint
Taking into account the limits on custody for business-related offences
- 5
Appeals
Against the investigator’s actions and decisions
- 6
Return of seized items and lifting of arrests
Documents, servers, media, accounts
- 7
The bank as pledgee
Protection when pledged property is seized in other people’s cases
- 8
Defence in court
At any level
The bank as a victim
The same team and the same closed environment
A crime report written so that a case is opened; work with investigators and prosecutors, a civil claim, asset recovery. The bank does not need a second provider.
Typical situations
- Borrower fraud
- Theft by employees
- Cyber fraud
Key advantage
Defending several executives at once without the risk of counsel being removed
What usually happens
- The CEO, the chief accountant and a department head share one lawyer
- Their interests diverge
- The investigator raises a conflict of interest
- Counsel is removed at the most critical moment
Our solution
Bar association 1Bar association 2Bar association 3
Single coordination by Horizon Global: one team, one strategy, one line of reporting to the bank and its head office
Art. 49(6) and Art. 72(1)(3) of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure.
Team
We know banks from the inside because we were bankers
A team from the banking sector
Lawyers from commercial banks who have seen the same processes from the other side of the table.
Banks in crisis
Regulator inspections, crisis management, M&A, rehabilitation and bankruptcy of banks.
Technology
Technology that saves our clients’ time
AI in a closed environment
We use artificial intelligence on our own servers and in-house models. Case materials never leave our CRM and are not shared with external services. At the client’s request, we handle the matter without AI.
State registers in seconds
Checks on counterparties, assets and risks from official sources in a single request.
- 01Federal Tax Service
- 02Tax Service — account freezes
- 03Notaries, Interior Ministry, Social Fund
- 04Pledge register, Fedresurs, Rosreestr
- 05Bankruptcy register (EFRSB)
- 06Bailiffs (FSSP)
- 07Rosfinmonitoring, Ministry of Justice, Interior Ministry
- 08Courts
Information about individuals is requested only within the limits permitted by law and where there are grounds.
Client app
- Matters and deadlines in one window
- Chat and our own video calls with your lawyer
- Court case monitoring
- One channel instead of messenger threads
- Panic button to call a lawyer urgently
Recognition
Vetted by rankings and major clients
2020 · 2021 · 2022
PRAVO-300 — “Bankruptcy, including disputes” and “Corporate law / M&A”; the “Insurance Law” practice team ranked first
2022
Forbes Club — study of the best law firms in Russia
2022
Kommersant Publishing House — “Legal Market Leaders”; “Insurance Dispute Resolution” — 1st place
12
letters of thanks from clients
Our clients include
- Russian Railways
- LUKOIL
- O’KEY
- Detecon (Deutsche Telekom)
- Eastern Property Holdings
- SUPERBIA