Our story begins in November 2010 with what appeared to be a typically Russian traffic incident. The driver of a BMW made some move or other which apparently didn't please the occupants of a Mercedes. The BMW was brought to a standstill by the Mercedes and an accompanying Volkswagen. A number of men wielding baseball bats jumped out of these vehicles and launched an attack on the BMW and its driver.

The driver in question was Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen, deputy chairman of the board of directors of a Russian consultancy firm. Also a man with connections, according to many bloggers and journalists.

High profile
The assailants were the bodyguards of Matvey Urin, a Russian banker. Having vented their anger on the BMW driver they made off again, but the victim was quick enough to memorise the licence plate numbers and later give them to the police. Mr Urin and entourage were quickly detained by the authorities, reportedly by the federal security service which is also responsible for safeguarding the Kremlin. It is said that Mr Urin's car had weapons and drugs on board. Furthermore, a subsequent raid on his home apparently yielded evidence of bribery.

Prior to this incident, the name of the Dutch victim had been known only to a handful of insiders, despite having occupied a number of remarkably high-profile posts in the Russian capital in recent years.

After studying architecture in The Hague, Jorrit Faassen was appointed as a real estate specialist at Gazprombank-Invest, an investment business affiliated to Russian gas giant Gazprom. Still only in his late 20s, by 2008 he had already risen to the position of vice-president with Stroytransgaz, one of Russia's biggest construction companies which is mainly involved in laying oil and gas pipelines. He stayed in that job until April 2010.

Rumour mill
Little more is known about the man. Jorrit Faassen himself refuses to comment about what happened to him, a stance which merely serves to fuel the rumour mill. And that mill has already been turning at full speed since it became apparent that banker Matvey Urin's business empire started to collapse almost as soon as the bizarre traffic incident took place - with Russia's central bank withdrawing the licences of two or his five banks. The central bank denies that this had anything to do with punishment for the attack and that the banks in question had been in trouble for some time. Meanwhile, Mr Urin has been contesting his arrest - unsuccessfully so far.

Prison prospect
The banker has now been charged with committing "a serious crime" as part of a group, executed with "exceptional recklessness" and using implements that "resembled pistols". There is said to be information about his being involved in even more dubious activities. This is also under investigation. A Russian judge has said that, if released, Matvey Urin would be able to continue his 'criminal activities', go into hiding and 'put pressure on the victim and the witnesses'. In short, things are not looking good for the young banker. The level of violence used again the Dutch victim could result in as much as seven years' jail for Mr Urin. If he were also to be found guilty of attempted bribery, for example, that could mean a significant number of years on top of those seven.

Jorrit Faassen

Photo: RNW

The Russian blogosphere is obsessed by the case. The central question remains, just who is this mysterious Dutchman who happened to cross Matvey Urin's path on that road last November? The lack of relevant information on the internet - in itself, something of a feat - and the senior posts which young Jorrit Faassen has already filled leave, or so say the Russian bloggers and journalists, no room for doubt: this is someone with significant connections.

Son-in-law of …?
"If you try to work out how a Dutch national can end up being such an significant figure, then only one logical answer comes to mind: he's the son-in-law of a someone very important.''
This is what journalist Yulia Latynina said in December 2010 on the Echo Moskvy radio station.

Her colleague at Forbes, Olga Romanova, adds: "Very well-informed gossips have written that the Dutch citizen Jorrit Joost Faassen is the fortunate son-in-law of Prime Minister V.V. Putin - married to his eldest daughter''. This piece of gossip has been neither confirmed nor denied. It seems that only the Kremlin, or Jorrit Faassen himself, are in a position to put an end to all the speculation.
(tf/imm)