He was the operation leader for bank projects during his former employment, in which clients sought investment or loans. Several of those clients were represented by a US based consultancy firm that was run by Dmitrij Harder. It's believed that during September 2007 Harder informed Ryjenko that his company had been retained by a Russian based oil company to obtain financial backing for a project.

Ryjenko identified this as an opportunity to make money fraudulently as his employer’s potential clients would be directed to instruct Harder’s company - Ryjenko and Harder could then share the consultancy fee.

The investigation found that over the following two years and five months, Harder’s company received commission payments totalling $7.92 million. Harder gave $3.542 million of this to Ryjenko who arranged for it to be transferred to the offshore accounts of Sanderson.

Pictured: File image of a bank transfer being completed. 

The City of London Police said it's believed the money was transferred to Sanderson’s accounts to disguise Ryjenko’s involvement in the crimes, while the money received by Sanderson represented Ryjenko’s "reward for showing favour to Harder."

When the banks based in Guernsey and Jersey became suspicious and questioned Sanderson about the amount of money she was receiving, she claimed that the money was earned from a consultancy job with Harder’s company.

The matter was referred to OACU by EBRD’s Chief Compliance Officer in February 2010 and on 26 February 2010, OACU officers executed search warrants at two addresses.

Pictured: EBRD's head office.

During the searches, items were seized as evidence including computers and banking documents. Ryjenko was arrested on the same day and was sentenced to six years in prison on 19 June 2018.

Sanderson was arrested later than her brother, on 13 April 2011, and was then bailed to attend an interview with an investigation leading up to her conviction and sentencing this week.

Harder admitted his involvement following an investigation by the FBI's Philadelphia office and in July 2017 he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and ordered to forfeit $1.9 million.

The investigating officers in London were praised by the judge who presided over Sanderson's sentencing as the final part of a "complex investigation and co-ordinating extensive telephone evidence" was brought to a conclusion.

Detective Constable Roger Dainty of the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate said, "the sentencing of Sanderson marks the successful conclusion of eight years work by officers from the Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit.

“Greed drove this team of fraudsters to take advantage of the companies they worked for. Our complex investigation and work with international law enforcement was able to put a stop to their crimes.”

Pictured top: Ryjenko.