The defendants of the case "Arbat Prestige" in court did not plead guilty

The defendants of the Loud Business "Arbat Prestige" - former owner of the network of perfume stores of the company Vladimir Nekrasov and entrepreneur Sergey Schneider (aka Semyon Mogilevich , who is considered the shadow owner of the network - approx. Ed.) - did not admit their guilt in court.

According to ITAR-TASS, the lawyer of Nekrasov Alexander Asnis, during a meeting in the Tushino court of Moscow on Monday the prosecutor announced the indictment in this criminal case, after which the judge asked the defendants if they plead guilty.

“Nekrasov said that he understands the accusation, but he does not admit to his guilty,” the lawyer said. According to him, Nekrasov considers the charges of non -payment of taxes by his company unreasonable, far -fetched and contrary to actual circumstances of the case, and also stated that over the year the investigation could not collect evidence of his guilt in the incriminated act, "because it is impossible to prove what was not in fact."

"As Nekrasov said, the main goal - to destroy the Arbat Prestige company - investigators achieved. About 100 stores in Russia and abroad were closed, more than 3,000 people lost their jobs. Tens of billions of rubles in the form of tax payments ceased to go to the treasury. And this is during the period of the economic crisis," Interfax quoted the lawyer's words.

At the same time, he said that his client expressed hope for an acquittal. Meanwhile, on the charges of Schneider and Nekrasov, he threatens up to six years in prison. In addition, Asnev said that the prosecutor’s office petitioned that the process should be held in the future, but the defendants in the criminal case objected. "Nekrasov motivated this by the fact that the press of the press to the process can interfere with his move," he said.

In turn, Schneider’s lawyer Olga Kozyreva noted that her client also categorically disagrees with the charge. According to her, Schneider noted that at the stage of the preliminary investigation, all his petitions for the appointment of additional examinations were rejected.

Kozyreva also said that the court on Monday established the procedure for studying evidence according to which evidence of the prosecution will be the first to investigate. In total, 27 people are planned to interrogate from the prosecution. Some of them were summoned to the court for the next meeting, which will be held on June 8.

Recall that the case "Arbat Prestige" was transferred to the Tushino court on May 18. Usually, the investigative part of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District, which was investigated, sends its affairs to the Ostankino court, but Tushinsky was chosen because in the territory subordinate to him there is an interdistrict inspection of the Federal Tax Service No. 46, where the Arbat Prestige was supposed to transfer its tax returns.

Nekrasov and Schneider, detained on January 23, 2008, are accused under Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - evasion of taxes or fees from organizations. According to the investigation, the amount of taxes hidden by them using dummies from January 2005 to December 2006 amounted to 49.511 million rubles.

The defense stated that Schneider has nothing to do with Arbat-Plastizh. Schneider-Mogilevich has about 12 different surnames. For more than 15 years, he was wanted by law enforcement agencies in Russia, Ukraine, Israel and the USA. In particular, in the United States he was wanted on suspicion of fraud, "laundering" money and a racketeering.

During the investigation, the lawyers of Nekrasov and Schneider repeatedly asked them to free their clients from custody, including offering a security deposit of 240 million rubles. The courts refused to satisfy such petitions, referring to the fact that, "being at large, the accused may impede criminal proceedings." This criminal case consists of more than 100 volumes.

In early 2008, Arbat Prestige was one of the largest networks of perfume stores in Russia (by the end of 2007, its turnover amounted to $ 471.5 million). After the arrest of Nekrasov, the company began troubles. More than a hundred claims were presented to her in the courts. To date, all chain stores are closed, the company passes the bankruptcy procedure.