| Russian special services continued searching for “Georgian criminals” in markets and schools Over the weekend, Russian special services continued their offensive at an accelerated pace against representatives of the “Georgian criminals” who, as it turned out last week, are parasites in various spheres of Russian life. Initially, as you know, the crime bosses from this country and the gambling establishments they controlled came under attack. Since Friday, units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs almost throughout the country began massive inspections of markets, car services and other places where citizens or people from Georgia could be found violating the laws in some way. Even long-Russified famous cultural figures with Georgian surnames - Chkhartishvili (known under the pseudonym Akunin) and Tsereteli - came under suspicion.
Last week, in the capital alone, law enforcement agencies closed six casinos - Crystal, Golden Palace, Golden Palace Weekend, Bakara, Cosmos and Sol. An inspection at the Sol casino (our newspaper has already reported on inspections at other casinos), as explained by the Organized Organized Crime Control Department of the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate, showed that “there was no money in the winnings bank, the exchange office operated without permits, and tax violations were also revealed.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all these gambling establishments were controlled by Georgian criminal authorities. As it turned out, similar checks took place in St. Petersburg on Friday. There, the police checked the Olympia and Talion casinos. According to the detectives, these establishments were also “controlled by Georgian organized crime groups.” During the inspection of Olympia, numerous violations of sanitary standards were revealed, expired products were confiscated - caviar, meat without markings and wine without excise taxes. Investigators also found “certain electronic devices under the gambling tables that could influence the course of the game,” and the gambling tables themselves were not registered. At the Talion casino, according to operatives, oddly enough, “no serious violations were identified.”
Suddenly, the authorities had tax and other financial claims against the famous writer Grigory Chkhartishvili, who publishes under the pseudonym Boris Akunin, and the sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. Representatives of the tax inspectorate came to the Zakharov publishing house, with which Mr. Chkhartishvili collaborates, on Friday, and the Accounts Chamber (AC) spoke about the inspection at the Russian Academy of Arts (RAA), headed by Mr. Tsereteli.
According to the tax crime department, Mr. Chkhartishvili is being investigated for tax evasion on his writing income. And Mr. Tsereteli was completely suspected of embezzlement of budget funds. Representatives of the joint venture stated that the Russian Academy of Arts allegedly discovered misuse of federal budget funds amounting to 2.1 million rubles. It is assumed that about 1 million rubles. of this amount was spent on the maintenance of employees of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, filling positions not provided for by regulatory legal acts.
The head of the Moscow-Tovarnaya-Ryazanskaya station, Shato Kvachekidze, also came under the hot hand. He is suspected of “providing warehouse space to a commercial structure without formalizing contractual relations.” During the search of the warehouse, illegal immigrants from Georgia were also detained and will soon be sent home.
Since Friday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been closely involved in checking the capital's markets. “During the raids, numerous violations have already been identified, a number of markets are closed until order is restored,” said First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Alexander Chekalin. At the same time, he noted that the checks affected only the wholesale, agricultural, grocery and construction markets - for some reason this did not affect clothing markets. “The police do not interfere in the trade sphere, we are only interested in the criminal side,” Mr. Chekalin emphasized. -- As a result of the checks, hundreds and thousands of people of operational interest were detained. A large number of counterfeit migration cards were identified, and out of every three submitted medical books for food and agricultural products, two turned out to be fake. In the near future, the police will check all Russian markets. Markets are the most crime-prone places where illegal migrants work and hide. Also, drug addicts, scammers, and wanted criminals often hide there. In the Moscow region alone, 47 people were detained in markets who were hiding from trial and investigation.”
Thus, on the territory of the Cheryomushkinsky market, as it was announced, detectives closed a cafe whose owners did not have the proper permit for commercial activities. In addition, the cash register was missing, which “indicates that the owners were trying to evade paying taxes.” Also, in many of the market's trading pavilions, expired products were found, and in one of the pavilions, investigators found caviar for which there were no sanitary documents.
Reports have emerged that Georgian immigrants and citizens illegally staying in Russia have also begun to be looked for through schools. According to unofficial information, for this purpose telephone messages were sent to schools from regional police departments with a demand to provide a list of students with Georgian surnames. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs itself did not confirm this information.
On Friday, Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika expressed his opinion on the “anti-Georgian offensive” of the police. In one of his interviews, he noted that “law enforcement agencies act within the framework of the country’s legislation and do not go beyond its limits,” adding that “no additional tightening of measures is planned.”
At the same time, the Russian leadership, as it turned out, is preparing new “food sanctions” against Georgia in the coming days. As stated by the chief sanitary doctor of Russia Gennady Onishchenko, Russian sanitary services have begun checking juices and products for their production coming from Georgia. However, according to him, there is “no political subtext” in this action either. Ekaterina KARACHEVA |
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