MOSCOW, August 30 (RAPSI) – Preliminary hearings in a criminal case against two former Trust Bank top managers Oleg Dikusar and Yevgeny Romakov, who stand charged with embezzling 14.6 billion rubles ($227 million), will begin on September 5, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Investigators believe that from 2012 to 2014, Dikusar, ex-deputy chairman of the board at Trust Bank, and former bank’s CFO Romakov forged loan agreements with several Cyprus-based companies inflicting a 9.9 billion ruble ($154 million) loss on the bank.

Moreover, between 2013 and 2014, Dikusar alienated a total of 4.6 billion rubles ($71.6 million) Eurobonds which were on the bank’s balance sheet on behalf of Trust Bank owners.

Dikusar and Romakov are currently in detention.

A criminal case against former owners of Trust Bank has been singled out.

Russia’s Deposit Insurance Agency sustained large damages because it was required to compensate the embezzled funds to defrauded investors.

Midsized lender Trust Bank reported losses of 18.8 billion rubles ($293 million) in 2014 amid a financial crisis. As of December 1, 2014, its assets were estimated at over 290 billion rubles ($4.5 billion).

The Central Bank estimated that the bank’s debts exceeded the value of its assets by 67.8 billion rubles ($1 billion).