{
  "id": 13116328,
  "title": "Russia opens criminal fraud case against former co-owner of retail chains Lenta and Rive Gauche",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/russia-opens-criminal-fraud-case-against-former-co-owner-of-retail",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T12:24:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/10/09/russia-opens-criminal-fraud-case-against-former-co-owner-of-retail-chains-lenta-and-rive-gauche"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former co-owner of Russian supermarket chains Lenta and Rive Gauche, Dmitry Kostygin, has been detained by Russian authorities, according to reports from business news outlets RBC and Fontanka. Kostygin was placed under house arrest on October 8 and is accused of concealing the true financial position of Yulmart, a company he co-owned, when he signed a 2017 contract with Berks for equipment and machinery. Kostygin, along with co-owner August Meyer, was charged in a criminal fraud case in 2017, accused of misappropriating loans from Sberbank and VTB for business development, resulting in estimated damages of 3.14 billion rubles. Both Kostygin and Meyer received four and three year prison sentences, respectively, which were later exempted due to the statute of limitations expiring.",
  "summary": "Dmitry Kostygin, the former co-owner of the Russian supermarket chain Lenta and the Rive Gauche chain, has been detained, the Russian business news outlet RBC and the St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka reported, citing sources. On October 8, a Moscow court placed Kostygin under house arrest.",
  "key_points": [
    "Dmitry Kostygin detained by Russian authorities on October 8",
    "Accused of concealing Yulmart's financial position in 2017 contract",
    "Former co-owner August Meyer also charged in 2017 fraud case"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}