Translated material
"She slandered me"
The alleged organizer of the murder of Andrei Kozlov was arrested
Yesterday, on the second attempt, the Basmanny Court of Moscow issued a warrant for the arrest of former Chairman of the Board of VIP Bank Alexei Frenkel , suspected of organizing the murder of First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Andrei Kozlov . Thus, the court granted the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, which argued that, once free, the banker could escape and continue his criminal activities. The prisoner himself, leaving the courtroom under escort, managed to shout: “I am innocent, Askerova slandered me.” The businessman is expected to be formally charged on Wednesday.Alexey Frenkel, who was detained on the evening of January 11, should have been arrested last Friday. Then, along with him, 39-year-old Liana Askerova, co-owner of one of the capital’s restaurants, was brought to the Basmanny court. According to investigators, she helped the businessman find the killers. As a result, the woman was arrested, and Frenkel’s hearing was postponed at the request of his lawyer, who stated that the banker was severely beaten during his arrest.
His brother Mikhail also came to court yesterday to support Alexey Frenkel. He stated that he was convinced of Alexei’s innocence. According to him, everything that happened was the result of his brother’s struggle with the Central Bank. “You know, I know him well, he never thought about any revenge against Kozlov,” said Mikhail Frenkel. According to the banker's friends, he was allegedly severely beaten. “It was a real mask show, you know our police, nothing has changed since the early 90s. About 15 people ran up screaming, with machine guns, put everyone in the mud and beat them,” noted one of them, refusing to introduce himself. “Alexey Frenkel is a smart person. He spoke out a lot against the Central Bank, including on the practice of banking supervision. Alexey did not hide while other suspects were being arrested and spoke a lot. Frenkel looked calm, although he said a couple of times that he was afraid,” said Alexey Mamontov, president of the Moscow International Monetary Association (MIMA), who arrived at the court to vouch for the detainee.
The banker's lawyer, Igor Trunov, in turn, said that his client is still unwell - his heart and spine hurt. “At night, doctors from Petrovka were called to see him,” the defense lawyer said. - They gave him validol and valerian, saying that they could not help him with anything else, since they had no other medicines. Today we again asked to call an ambulance, but they refused. I still can't meet him. Through the Prosecutor General's Office, we sent a number of requests, including for a medical examination of Frenkel and an internal investigation against the law enforcement officers who detained him. So far everything is based on the testimony of Askerova , who slandered my client.”
According to the investigation, the idea to eliminate Andrei Kozlov came from Frenkel last summer. VIP Bank , which was then headed by the accused, had a strained relationship with the Central Bank over the failure to issue licenses and permits, and they were involved in protracted litigation. The initiator of most of the bank’s “problems” was Mr. Kozlov. On his initiative, in June 2006 , VIP Bank’s license was revoked for money laundering.
According to investigators, Frenkel shared his criminal plan with his friend Liana Askerova, who promised to help. The owner of the restaurant, in turn, turned to her friend - 50-year-old native of Dnepropetrovsk, businessman Boris Shafrai. According to his lawyer Valery Karyshev, Shafrai was engaged in the wholesale trade of mobile phones and personal protective equipment in Russia. “There was a trusting relationship between Ms. Askerova and Boris. They often communicated, they rented dachas nearby in the cottage village of Novye Gorki by the presidential administration,” he said.
According to the investigation, Shafrai flew to Ukraine, where he asked for help in solving the “problem” of his old friend, crime boss from Lugansk Bogdan Pogorzhevsky. The same one handed over the order to his friend, previously convicted Alexey Polovinkin, and he attracted Maxim Proglyada and Alexander Belokopytov. The killers, having received a deposit, weapons, a photograph of the victim, and the license plate of a company Mercedes, were in no hurry to fulfill the “order.” While going about their business along the way, they either did not catch Kozlov at work, or could not catch up with his limousine. The killers managed to track down the victim only on September 13 near the sports complex on Oleniy Val Street, where Mr. Kozlov played football after work. According to the killers, they did not know who they were “ordered” to do . When, celebrating the “work” done, they turned on the TV and heard who had been shot, they went on a drinking binge out of fear. According to one version, fearing that he himself would be killed, one of the killers came to the police. His testimony helped detain his accomplices.
Then the detectives managed to get on the trail of Pogorzhevsky. While working on his connections, they got on the trail of Shafrai and detained him on December 28 in Moscow. “Shafrai was interrogated several times, but he does not plead guilty, despite information that has emerged that he confessed. He was persuaded to give such testimony, promising that he would be transferred to the category of witnesses,” Mr. Karyshev told Vremya Novostei.