Eighth arrest

Another alleged accomplice in the murder of Andrei Kozlov was detained

The Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office (SKP) yesterday announced the detention of another alleged accomplice in the assassination attempt on the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia Andrei Kozlov, who was shot dead in Moscow in September 2006. According to investigators, 36-year-old native of the Moscow region Alexey Kosmynin organized surveillance of Mr. Kozlov, and then helped the organizers of the crime assemble a team of killers. A warrant for his arrest was issued back in November 2006, but since he could not be found then, he was put on the wanted list, and the materials regarding him were separated into separate proceedings. Alexey Kosmynin was detained last Monday in the south-west of the capital.

He became the eighth defendant in this case. Seven main defendants were arrested in the first months of the investigation, and three weeks ago the Moscow City Court already found them guilty . The alleged perpetrators and accomplices of the murder of Andrei Kozlov were sentenced to terms ranging from six years in prison to life imprisonment. Banker Alexey Frenkel, whom investigators consider to be the mastermind of the assassination attempt, received 19 years in prison. However, this verdict has not yet entered into force, since the defense of the defendants appealed it to the Supreme Court.

Andrei Kozlov and his driver were shot dead on the evening of September 13, 2006 in Moscow near the sports complex in Sokolniki. The main accused were detained by the beginning of 2007. There were seven people in the dock - practically the entire chain from the customer to the performer. Citizens of Ukraine Maxim Proglyada, Alexander Belokopytov and Alexey Polovinkin, as the prosecution insisted, were part of the “brigade” of killers assembled by Bogdan Pogorzhevsky. According to the prosecutor’s office, the “order” for the murder of Mr. Kozlov was given to him by Boris Shafrai, an acquaintance of the owner of the Trish restaurant, Liana Askerova, to whom Alexey Frenkel turned with a request to “help solve the problem.” According to investigators, the reason for the “order” was that Mr. Kozlov, who oversaw banking supervision issues at the Central Bank, prevented Frenkel from illegally cashing out money through the VIP bank he owned. None of the defendants, however, admitted their guilt.

Alexey Kosmynin was also on the list of suspects almost from the very beginning of the investigation, but it was not possible to detain him then. As the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate said, investigators were recently able to find out that Kosmynin often visits the apartment on Novatorov Street. And on Monday at eight in the morning he was detained there as he was leaving the entrance. According to official information, the suspect did not offer resistance and was immediately taken to the Investigative Committee building in Tekhnicheskiy Lane, where “urgent investigative actions” were carried out with him.

According to investigators, Kosmynin was one of the technical organizers of the assassination attempt; it is assumed that he helped Pogorzhevsky organize surveillance of the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, and then find the killers. True, the last point remains not very clear. According to the data of the same SKP, voiced during the trial, Pogorzhevsky was familiar with the killers long before the murder of Mr. Kozlov. All of them are from Lugansk (Ukraine). And the role of Kosmynin, who was born in the Volokolamsk district of the Moscow region, is not entirely clear. All that is known about him is that he, like Pogorzhevsky, had a certificate as an assistant lawyer. In addition, according to Polovinkin’s testimony, voiced in court, Kosmynin allegedly worked in some private security company, and even earlier seemed to be related to law enforcement agencies.

According to investigators, Pogorzhevsky himself introduced Kosmynin, who “was the customer of the surveillance,” to the killers. According to the prosecution, Kosmynin received $100 thousand from the “customer” for his work.

In November of this year, according to the court verdict, it was Bogdan Pogorzhevsky who received the shortest sentence. The jury found him worthy of leniency because he was the only one who cooperated with the investigation. In fact, the accusation was based only on his testimony. In the same testimony, by the way, he completely denied Kosmynin’s involvement in both the surveillance and the murder itself. And from this point of view, the completion of the trial for the remaining accused is beneficial for Kosmynin. Now, when considering his case, the court will be forced to take into account the testimony given by other defendants.

Eduard LOMOVTSEV