France has extradited convicted Russian banker Antonov to Lithuania
France has extradited Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, who was convicted in the Snoras Bank case, to Lithuania. He was found guilty of embezzlement, fraud, and driving the bank into bankruptcy.
This was reported by Russian opposition media.
He was convicted in Vilnius of embezzlement, fraudulently driving the bank into bankruptcy, and a number of other crimes, according to the Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office. He was arrested in France in December 2025 under a European arrest warrant, and in April, a court approved his extradition.
In November 2024, the Vilnius District Court sentenced Antonov in absentia to 10.5 years in prison. He was found guilty of embezzlement, driving the bank into bankruptcy, document forgery, and fraud. The crimes were committed between 2008 and 2011, when Antonov controlled Snoras. The bank was the fourth largest in Lithuania, and its collapse became one of the most high-profile banking scandals in the Baltic states.
In 2011, Snoras was declared bankrupt and liquidated after a shortfall of 1 billion euros was discovered. According to the case file, the amount of damages under the European arrest warrant was at least 478 million euros, and the court ordered Antonov and his partner to pay 375 million euros in compensation. In November 2024, the Vilnius Regional Court sentenced Antonov and his partner Raimondas Baranauskas to 10.5 years in prison.
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