Hi, I'm Courtney Weaver, a foreign correspondent with the Financial Times.

I've spent a long time reporting in Russia, so last year what I got an email about a Russian

banker living in exile in New York City, I thought it might just be an interesting story.

But it turned out to be something bigger, something which encapsulated so much about Russia today,

and how we in the West build stories about who's good and who's bad.

And I'm Stephanie Palma, a Washington correspondent with the Financial Times.

The man in question is named Sergei Liantiev.

For a long time, Sergei Liantiev.

For a long time, Sir Géliontiev was part of Russia's banking elite.

His bank had hundreds of locations all across the country.

He was seen as an innovator. He was the kind of guy who'd get to talk

about Russian banking with a foreign investor or visiting American president.

But Sergei says his dreams of becoming a Russian Warren Buffett came to an end because of the state.

He says Moscow persecuted him for his connections to opposition leader Alexei Navalny,

and he had to flee the country.

Russia says it went after Sergei because he was responsible for a billion dollar hole in his bank's balance sheets.

They say he took the money and ran.

It seemed like a clear-cut story.

Russia was looking for a reason to cut down Leontiev.

But the more we dug into it, the more questions we had. On the Russian banker, a new mini series from the Financial Times,

we explore the story of Sergei the Ottiv and Russia's pursuit of him,

which is still happening today, in courtrooms around the world.

...