Immediate involvement
We enter the case, obtain access to the client and the file and stop unaided explanations given under pressure — which are the most frequent source of evidence against the client.
PRACTICE / 08
White-collar criminal defence for business
Conducted by advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association.
- Conducted by
- Advocates of the Bar Association
- Stages
- From pre-investigation check to cassation
- Urgent line
- +7 499 460-63-47
A criminal case against a business rarely appears out of nowhere: it is usually preceded by a tax audit, a corporate conflict or a complaint from a counterparty. We therefore build the defence together with our tax, insolvency and corporate lawyers — where the case actually came from.
Criminal defence is provided by advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association, with which Kovalev & Partners LLC has a cooperation agreement. The warrant, advocate–client privilege and access to the client are provided in full.
What we do
- Defend in economic and tax cases: fraud, misappropriation, tax evasion, unlawful acts in insolvency, money laundering.
- Support pre-investigation checks: written explanations, interviews, production of documents.
- Attend searches, seizures and inspections and challenge how they are carried out and what is taken.
- Prepare staff and managers for interview and attend interviews as defence counsel.
- Challenge the opening of a case, the preventive measure and the attachment of assets and accounts.
- Represent the injured party: criminal complaints and civil claims within criminal proceedings.
- Run financial investigations and prepare evidence for both criminal and commercial proceedings.
- Act as a personal advocate: continuous support for the client and the family, contact on the day of the request, attendance at investigative measures.
- Seek review of convictions and judgments on appeal, in cassation and on newly discovered grounds.
Typical situations
- After a tax audit the file has been passed to the investigative authorities.
- Investigators have searched the office, seized equipment and documents, and the company has stopped working.
- A director is invited for an informal talk and asked to give an explanation without counsel.
- A partner in a corporate conflict has filed a fraud complaint to gain leverage in the dispute.
- Proceedings have been opened against the company for deliberate insolvency.
Commercial disputes in Russia are heard by the arbitrazh courts — the state commercial courts, not private arbitration tribunals; disputes involving individuals go to the courts of general jurisdiction.
HOW THE WORK IS ORGANISED
How the work is organised
Where the case came from
We look at the tax, insolvency and corporate background. The dispute is often resolved not in the criminal arena but where it originated.
The line of defence
Applications, challenges to the acts of the investigation, work with expert evidence, protection of assets from attachment, the position on the preventive measure.
Trial and appeal
Conduct of the case at trial, appeal against the verdict and work on newly discovered grounds.
RESULTS
Cases from this practice
Tax disputes2024
RUB 93.5million of tax assessment overturned
Tax assessment and interest overturned after a field tax audit
Following a field audit, VK-I was assessed RUB 93.5 million of arrears and RUB 26.4 million of interest, with administrative proceedings opened under art. 122(3) of the Tax Code: the tax authority treated loans from a foreign company as artificial. We proved the economic purpose of the loans, that they were actually serviced, and that the audit itself was procedurally flawed. The decision was quashed and the proceedings discontinued.
Read the case
Subsidiary liability2024
2 of 3clients released from the claims
Subsidiary liability claim refused in the AO E. insolvency
The bankruptcy trustee applied to hold three of our clients subsidiarily liable. We obtained an order splitting the claims into separate proceedings and prepared an individual position for each. The Arbitrazh Court of the City of Moscow refused the trustee's application in respect of two of them; work for the third continues.
Read the case
Debt recovery and commercial litigation2024
RUB 3.06billion in principal debt claimed
Otkrytye Tekhnologii claims against Sibantracit group companies
We act for Otkrytye Tekhnologii LLC in claims against Razrez Kiyzassky LLC and Razrez Vostochny LLC for RUB 3.06 billion and RUB 1.29 billion respectively. The customers stopped advance payments, refused to sign completion certificates and closed access to the sites, while the results of the work are in use. The cases are before the Arbitrazh Court of the Republic of Mari El.
Read the case
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Who do I sign the engagement with — the company or the advocate?
Criminal defence is conducted by an advocate of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association, and the agreement on the provision of legal assistance is made directly with that advocate; the fee is paid into the Bar Association's cash desk or bank account. Related work — the tax, insolvency and corporate side — is carried out by Kovalev & Partners LLC under its own engagement.
What should I do during a search?
Call us, ask to see the search order and note its details, sign nothing you do not understand and give no explanations until counsel arrives. We add the comments to the record together.
I have been invited for an informal talk without a summons. Should I go?
You are not obliged to attend without a summons, and an off-the-record conversation almost always ends in a written explanation that is later used as evidence. The right course is to establish your procedural status and attend with counsel.
Can attachment of assets and accounts be lifted?
Attachment can be challenged, and in economic cases there is a body of practice on releasing assets unconnected with the alleged offence. We run that alongside the substantive defence — otherwise the business stops long before the case reaches trial.
The case grew out of a tax audit. Does that change the defence?
Yes. We examine where the case came from and often resolve it not in the criminal arena but at its origin: in the tax or insolvency dispute. That is why we build the defence together with the firm's specialist lawyers.
NEXT STEP
Let us look at your situation
The consultation is free when an engagement is signed: we tell you whether the matter has prospects and roughly what running it will cost.