| General Oleynik's lawyer did not want to be a witness The Moscow Garrison Military Court (MGVS) overturned the decision of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office to remove lawyer Mikhail Marov from defending the former chief financier of the Ministry of Defense, General Georgy Oleynik.
Over the course of several years, a total of six criminal cases were initiated against General Oleinik, two of which resulted in convictions. One of them, however, was later cancelled. The latest investigation against the former head of the Main Directorate of Military Budget and Financing (GUVBiF) of the Ministry of Defense was launched after a statement by his cellmate, apartment swindler Alexei Evstafiev. He claims that he gave the general $500 thousand to bribe representatives of the Supreme Court. Investigators decided that Mikhail Marov could allegedly have something to do with this whole story, and removed him from participation in the case. However, the court found this decision illegal.
At first they tried to accuse General Oleinik of illegal payments during the construction of Ministry of Defense facilities in the North, but then the case was closed. In the second case, it was about how the general allegedly received a bribe in the form of an apartment, but this investigation also ended in nothing. The third, still ongoing case is devoted to the history of mutual settlements between the Ministry of Defense and a Latvian bank, which paid off debts with the military department with medicines. Investigators believe that the medications were obtained at inflated prices.
Sentences have been reached in two other cases. For exceeding his authority by transferring 450 million “budget” dollars to Ukraine, Oleinik received three years in prison, but the Supreme Court overturned this verdict and acquitted the general. And in July last year, the MGVS sentenced Oleynik to five years in prison for selling, after the 1998 crisis, at a reduced price to Voenbank, internal currency loan bonds (OVVZ), which belonged to the Ministry of Defense. The lawyers also appealed this verdict.
While numerous trials were ongoing, Georgy Oleynik was transferred to the cell of the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, where Alexey Evstafiev was kept. He was arrested in one of the most scandalous criminal cases related to the real estate market - the theft of 96 municipal apartments from Moscow authorities. Several federal judges were also charged as part of this investigation. In December 2003, Mr. Evstafiev unexpectedly wrote a statement to the Main Military Prosecutor's Office (GVP) that Mr. Oleinik, in a pretrial detention cell, asked him for 500 thousand dollars, which were transferred through intermediaries to the general's family. As Evstafiev claimed, for this money Oleynik promised, using his connections, to help in concluding lucrative contracts with the Ministry of Defense and providing plots of land, but in fact he used the money to bribe the assistant to the First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, Vladimir Radchenko. Based on this fact, the GVP opened a criminal case under the article “fraud.”
“In fact, everything was exactly the opposite,” Mikhail Marov told us. - It was Evstafiev who promised right in “Matrosskaya Tishina” that for a large bribe he would help Oleinik to be released. The general believed it, and his wife, without consulting us lawyers, began collecting money almost all over Moscow. As a result, more than 200 thousand dollars were transferred to Evstafiev’s people. And when Oleinik realized that he was dealing with a swindler, he demanded that Evstafiev return the money, threatening to write a statement against him to the GVP. However, Evstafiev played ahead of the curve and turned to the investigators himself. Representatives of the GVP tried to interrogate me about this case, but I refused. Otherwise, I would have been relegated to the rank of witness and would no longer be able to defend the general. Then some stupid hints appeared that since I was involved in all the criminal cases of the general, I was aware of the story with Evstafiev. As a result, the investigators issued a resolution to remove me from Oleinik’s defense in this case.” The lawyer challenged this decision in the MGVS, and the other day the judges overturned it. It is worth noting that back in March of this year, applicant Alexey Evstafiev was sentenced to 12 years in prison for apartment fraud. Alexander SHVAREV |
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