Investigators completed a criminal case accusing an official of embezzlement

Employees of the Investigation Department (ID) of the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) for Bashkiria yesterday announced the completion of the investigation of the criminal case on charges of embezzlement of the former Prime Minister of the republic, Rail Sarbaev. He is accused of an air flight to Austria, made in December 2008 and paid for from the regional budget. The investigation is confident that the visit to Vienna was of a private nature: the prime minister allegedly met there with the son of the former president of Bashkortostan, Ural Rakhimov. During the investigation, Mr. Sarbaev himself did not admit his guilt and said that he was carrying out a direct order from Rakhimov Sr.

The press service of the Bashkir department of the Investigative Committee yesterday announced the completion of the investigation into the criminal case on charges of embezzlement of the former prime minister of the republic, Rail Sarbaev. Senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee Svetlana Abramova explained to Kommersant that the investigation materials have been sent for approval to the republican prosecutor's office.

According to investigators, at the end of December 2008, Rail Sarbaev (who was the Prime Minister of Bashkiria until August 2010) flew to Austria for two days on a private visit, but paid for the trip from budget money. According to Kommersant's information, which is confirmed by the Investigative Committee, Mr. Sarbaev met in Vienna with the son of the then President of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov, Ural. At that time, the Rakhimov family was in full swing preparing a deal to sell a controlling stake in BashTEK to AFK Sistema. By that time, Ural Rakhimov had been living in Austria for more than a year, although he was a deputy of the Bashkir parliament - kurultai.

The investigation established that a charter flight on a business jet chartered by the Bashkir prime minister of ArtJet Ltd (Bahamas) cost the republic’s budget 1.6 million rubles. The Prime Minister ordered to write off these costs from the Ministry of Construction, Architecture and Transport under the article “Implementation of government functions related to general government.” Initially he was charged with Part 4 of Art. 160 (embezzlement) and Art. 185 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Subsequently, only the more serious “embezzlement” remained in the case, the commission of which is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

During the investigation, the ex-prime minister declared his innocence and disagreement with the initiation of a criminal case and testified that he visited Austria on the instructions of Murtaza Rakhimov. The head of the region, according to the investigator, allegedly asked the prime minister to “talk with his son about financing the republican budget deficit.” However, Murtaza Rakhimov himself, according to the Investigative Committee, did not confirm the words of his former subordinate and told the investigation that he did not give such commands. In addition, the prime minister himself chose to pay off the damage caused to the budget by paying 1.6 million rubles during the investigation. Svetlana Abramova explained that, at the request of the Investigative Committee, “foreign colleagues interviewed several people in Austria who met with Sarbayev, as a result it was confirmed that his visit was of a private nature.”

Rail Sarbaev was unavailable for comment yesterday. His lawyer Ivan Danilin insists on his client’s innocence. “The prime minister, on his way to Austria, carried out a direct order from Murtaza Rakhimov, and the defense will prove this in court,” he said. “The case is certainly politically motivated; there is no corpus delicti in the actions of my client.” He declined to make any other comments.

Bulat Bashirov, Ufa

The ex-prime minister of Bashkortostan flew to court