Russian Ex-Banker Beats Foreign Trustee in US Bankruptcy Dispute

A US bankruptcy court blocked a foreign trustee’s move to exercise power over the former chairman of a Russian commercial bank who now lives the US.

Russian insolvency trustee Oleg Ogarkov’s petition for recognition of a foreign proceeding against Alexander Zheleznyak, the former chairman and co-founder of Russia-based Probusinessbank, was rejected on May 8 by Chief Judge Elizabeth D. Katz of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The decision by the Boston-based judge is a victory for Zheleznyak, who has said the foreign bankruptcy is part of “notorious and systemic corruption” in the Russian government and a ...