From leaked Windows code to prison term: how Alexey Kibkalo built a second career at Sberbank after US conviction

24 January 2026 , 14:17

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From leaked Windows code to prison term: how Alexey Kibkalo built a second career at Sberbank after US conviction

A shocking story has emerged about Alexey Kibkalo, a former senior architect at Microsoft. In the United States, he was convicted of illegally distributing the source code of the Windows operating system.

After returning to Russia, he began working with Sberbank and, according to his own claims, became close to its head, German Gref. He was later detained with a large assortment of narcotics.

According to Kibkalo’s initial testimony, he supplied drugs to Sberbank’s senior management. He later unexpectedly recanted these statements, which significantly improved his legal outcome. Although he was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison, the term was soon reduced by more than half.

Kibkalo joined Microsoft in 2005, first working in Moscow, then in France, and later becoming the company’s chief architect for the Middle East. In 2012, amid growing dissatisfaction from management, he allegedly decided to retaliate by leaking a pre-release copy of Windows 8 and activation tools to bloggers, encouraging free distribution. He also passed Microsoft-developed code to another blogger.

In March 2014, Kibkalo was arrested by the FBI and charged with theft of trade secrets. He pleaded guilty, served time until trial, paid a fine, and was deported to Russia. Back in Moscow, he began close cooperation with Sberbank, reportedly facilitated by Alexey Murzov, then Sberbank’s chief architect and a former Microsoft colleague.

That cooperation lasted nearly a decade. According to investigators, a detained Sberbank employee agreed to identify a drug supplier in exchange for leniency, leading police to Kibkalo’s apartment in Moscow’s Likhov Lane. During a search, officers allegedly found more than 40 grams of packaged mephedrone, MDMA, and other drugs.

Kibkalo initially claimed he had access to high-quality drugs for personal use but later stated that he supplied narcotics to Sberbank managers and top executives. He alleged frequent visits to Gref’s residence in Arkhangelskoye and close personal relations with him. Messages recovered from his phone reportedly suggested communications unrelated to IT matters.

However, the case never became public at a high level. After reconsideration, Kibkalo changed his testimony, stating the drugs were for personal use only. The charges were downgraded from large-scale drug distribution to illegal possession, and his sentence was reduced to five years.

Emma Davis