INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian detectives questioned the creative director of two of Russias most popular theaters in connection with a significant embezzlement
Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka reported Wednesday.The investigation centers on supposed financial misconduct throughout the
remediation of the Gorky Moscow Art Theatres phase, which was set up to resume in October 2025
Vladimir Kehman, the creative director of the Gorky Moscow Art Theatre and the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St
Petersburg, was summoned to the Investigative Committees head office in Moscow and authorities searched his home, Fontanka reported.Kehman
is currently categorized as a witness.The case is apparently being led by the Investigative Committee, which probes major criminal
activities, and the Interior Ministrys financial security division.The Ostorozhno Novostinews outlet reportedthat the primary entryway to
Moscow Art Theatre was closed and that officers associated with the Interior Ministry had sealed parts of the building.Investigators are
analyzing the roles of a number of business that won significant restoration agreements under Kehmans management, consisting of
RSK-Renaissance, Stroy-Expert and Atlant-Project
RSK-Renaissance alone was awarded an almost 1-billion-ruble ($13 million) agreement in 2023 for deal with the Moscow Art Theatre.Authorities
have actually also expressed interest in the business transactions of Marat Karginov, a professional with ties to projects at numerous
theaters Kehman has overseen.Kehman, 56, was designated director of the Gorky Moscow Art Theatre in 2021
He has been described as one of the most questionable figures in Russian theatre.He formerly served as general and creative director of the
Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre before being firedfor staging a production of Wagners Tannhuser that sparked a protest from the Russian
Orthodox Church.A former banana importer as soon as known as Russias Banana King, Kehman developed a fruit empire through his company JFC,
which managed a third of the nationwide banana market in the early 2000s
In 2010, 120 kilograms of cocaine were discovered on a JFC delivery, though Kehman was cleared of any wrongdoing.He was stated insolvent in
the United Kingdom in 2012, followed by a Russian insolvency ruling in 2016
The Bank of Moscow continued to pursue fraud claims versus him in spite of his bankruptcy and brought the case to a London court in 2015
The court found Kehman had actually secured loans through falsified documents and deceptiveness, purchasing him to pay more than $140
million in damages.In Russia, a five-year probe into the supposed embezzlement of 20 billion rubles (around $256 million) in bank loans
expired in 2017 due to the statute of limitations running out.
