“Ralph Ringer” changed its name to “Development Resource” after the criminal case against the founder was transferred to court

Facts of the criminal case.

The name change came amid news of tax evasion allegations against the company’s CEO and founder, Andrei Berezhny. As the press service of the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office reported on November 7, a criminal case with an indictment against the general directors of Ralph Ringer JSC, as well as against Promsnabpostavka LLC, was sent to the Ostankino District Court. Top managers were accused of tax evasion of 588 million rubles in 2015-2017. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Ralph Ringer JSC is headed by its founder, Andrey Berezhnoy.

The Federal Tax Service has suspended operations on some Ralph Ringer accounts.

RB.RU sent a request to the press service of the footwear retailer, but at the time of publication of the material did not receive a response. The Ralf Ringer company published a statement on the illegality of the criminal prosecution of Andrei Berezhny.

“Taking the case to court is an illegal procedure that has no judicial prospects,” the company stated.

Footwear retailer Ralf Ringer has been fighting a legal battle with tax authorities for three years, with varying degrees of success. The FSSP database contains information on three large enforcement proceedings against JSC Ralph Ringer, opened in 2024, on the collection of taxes in the amount of 2.4 billion rubles and 205 million rubles.

Expert opinion: why change the name?

Nikita Antipenko, managing partner of NA Legal, believes that the name change may be due to extensive media coverage of the news about the criminal case initiated against the director of the company. A wave of this news emerged just before the name change, the expert clarified.

“Very often, news about a criminal case can disrupt plans to get a company out of a real estate crisis, for example, hinder the attraction of investments. Certain attempts to resolve the debt problem voluntarily emerge from Ralph Ringer’s bankruptcy case, which does not exclude a name change to seek additional financing for the company,” the lawyer told RB.RU.

Nikita Antipenko added that the main legal entity that owns the block of Ralph Ringer shares still has the same name (we are talking about Ralph Ringer Group LLC). Apparently, the tax authority has no claims against this company, added the NA Legal lawyer.

“Of course, changing the name will not solve the company’s problems in terms of debts incurred, the removal of liens on bank accounts, etc., but it may reduce a certain level of anxiety of potential investors and partners of the company. company,” said the expert.

For such crimes, penalties can range from a fine to a prison sentence of up to five years, the lawyer added.

• Ralf Ringer has been producing shoes for 27 years in four of its own factories in Russia, selling them and developing a network through a franchise. On the company’s website, Ralph Ringer Retail LLC is listed as the shoe seller and Ralph Ringer Production is the manufacturer. There are no known tax claims against these structures. The final beneficiary of the companies is Andrey Berezhnoy.
• The revenue of Resource Development JSC (before the name change to Ralph Ringer) in 2023 amounted to 2 billion rubles (in 2022 – 6 billion rubles), and the net loss was 143.8 million rubles. As of August 10, 2024, according to Kontur.Focus, the company’s debt for taxes and fees amounted to 1.3 billion rubles.
• Ralph Ringer Retail’s revenue in 2023 increased by 37% to 4.2 billion rubles, net profit amounted to 185.4 million rubles. Ralph Ringer Production’s revenue in the same year increased 7 times, to 5.1 billion rubles, and net profit almost 5 times, to 149.6 million rubles.