Rosbank’s chairman of the management board has been put under house arrest on extortion charges.

      According to investigators, Vladimir Golubkov has allegedly demanded $1.5 million from a businessman who requested that his loan be extended and its terms eased.

      Golubkov was arrested in his office with 5 million roubles laid out in front of him in what the police say was an advance payment.

      Rosbank’s CEO has denied the charges, and some banking experts indicicate this could have been a set-up, given the growing differences between the Russian and the French executives of the Russian bank controlled by Société Générale SA.