A Russian financier was jailed for 19 years yesterday for ordering the assassination of the deputy head of the Central Bank.

Alexei Frenkel, 37, was convicted of masterminding the murder of Andrei Kozlov in an act of revenge for the loss of his bank in an anti-corruption campaign.

Mr Kozlov, 41, was shot dead in a contract killing that sent shockwaves through Moscow’s business community and stirred fears of a return to the “wild east” banditry that marked Russia’s dash to capitalism in the 1990s. He had led an aggressive Central Bank campaign against banks suspected of involvement in corruption and money-laundering. Frenkel’s bank had been one of dozens stripped of their licences in an effort to clean up Russia’s financial system.

Mr Kozlov was killed by two gun-men outside Moscow’s Spartak football stadium in September 2006. Frenkel was arrested less than seven weeks later and six others were convicted with him for their roles in the crime. The hitman who killed Mr Kozlov and his driver was jailed for life, while a second gunman was sentenced to 24 years in prison. The other four people received sentences of between six and 14 years. They included Liana Askerova, a restaurant owner whose testimony led police to arrest Frenkel.

The court in Moscow ordered the group to pay 10 million roubles (£245,000) in compensation to Mr Kozlov’s father, including 2 million roubles from Frenkel. Investigators said that Frenkel had paid $300,000 (£202,000) for the murder to be carried out.

Frenkel’s family said that he planned to appeal against conviction to Russia’s Supreme Court. The former chairman of VIP Bank had denied involvement in the assassination but was convicted by a jury last month.

Mr Kozlov closed down Frenkel’s bank three months before he was assassinated. Frenkel claimed in letters published after his arrest that the Central Bank had been taking bribes in return for allowing banks to join the state’s deposit insurance system for customers. Prosecutors opened an investigation into his claims that regulators took bribes of between $150,000 and $5 million before giving banks access to the scheme.

— Russian shares have fallen by more than $1 trillion since Dmitry Medvedev became Russia’s president on May 7 as investors dump Russian assets because of concern that the economy is sinking into its worst crisis for a decade. The dollar-dominated RTS exchange said that the capitalisation of the stocks it handles has fallen by more than $1 trillion to $385 billion since a market peak on May 19.

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