December 03, 2012, 21:16 Society

Millions don't affect arrest

The court upheld the arrest of the general director of Slavyanka OJSC, suspected of embezzling 53 million rubles, as legal.

The Moscow City Court confirmed the legality of the arrest of the general director of Slavyanka OJSC, Alexander Elkin. His lawyers insisted that Elkin was not involved in the theft of 52.6 million rubles, and offered to release him on bail of 20 million rubles. However, the prosecutor said that during the search evidence of the prisoner’s guilt was found, and the court decided to leave Elkin behind bars.

On Monday, the Moscow City Court considered a cassation appeal against the decision of the Khamovnichesky Court to arrest the general director of Slavyanka OJSC, Alexander Elkin. He was detained on November 15 on suspicion of involvement in the theft of 52.6 million rubles, which were allocated by the Ministry of Defense for the maintenance and repair of military camps. Two government contracts were concluded in 2011 between the Ministry of Defense and Slavyanka, and then Slavyanka transferred its responsibilities under the contracts to ZAO Security and Communications. However, the founder and shareholder of this company is Elkin. And at the time of signing the contracts, he held the position of General Director of Security and Communications.

Elkin’s lawyer, Yuri Shiryanin, argued at the trial that Elkin could not be held responsible for the performance or non-performance of work, since, having signed the contracts, he led “Security and Communications” for another three months - until March 2011. “Thus, he could not have committed the crime charged and was not involved in the theft at all,” the lawyer said. Shiryanin drew the court's attention to the fact that Elkin did not try to hide, he voluntarily appeared on November 15 for questioning at the Main Military Investigation Department, answered questions and was detained there. “There wasn’t even a reason for the detention,” the lawyer claims. “They didn’t look for Elkin, they didn’t arrest him at the crime scene, he himself came for questioning.”

The arrested person offered to set 20 million rubles as bail.

At the Khamovnichesky Court hearing for Elkin’s arrest, the investigator stated that very significant funds were found in the detainee’s possession. As a result of a search at Elkin’s place of residence, more than 2 million rubles were seized, and $4.5 million in bank safe deposit boxes. The investigator also said that, according to his data, Elkin had more than 85 million rubles in his safe deposit boxes, and more on his bank cards 200 million rubles. The investigator then stated that, having such material capabilities, Elkin could hide from the investigation.

Taking the floor after the lawyers, the prosecutor - a tall, thin blonde in military uniform and heels - told the court that “during the search of Elkin, documents and electronic media were found that indicated the commission of a crime.”

In particular, two falsified documents were found on behalf of military prosecutors. “This speaks to Elkin’s preparation: even before the official initiation of the case, he took steps to conceal the crime,” the prosecutor said.

Previously, the fact that Elkin is taking measures to counteract the investigation is stated in the report of an FSB detective , which is in the case.

As a result, the court did not agree with the arguments of the defense and upheld the decision of the Khamovnichesky Court, which sent the detainee under arrest until January 14.

Next, the court considered an appeal against a similar arrest of Yulia Rotanova. However, it turned out that Rotanova wanted to attend the trial and sent a corresponding statement, but it was not found in court. “We drafted the document together,” her lawyer confirmed. The judge decided to postpone the hearing to December 5.

According to the case materials, on November 14, 2012, a criminal case was opened against officials of the Ministry of Defense, managers of ZAO Security and Communications and OJSC Slavyanka under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale).

According to investigators, from 2011 to July 2012, 52.6 million rubles were stolen within the framework of a government contract concluded between the ministry and the company in December 2010.

During the investigation, it was possible to establish the involvement of Elkin, who is the founder of the company and until April 2011 was the general director of this company. was appointed to the position of General Director of ZAO Security and Communications In April , Andrei Lugansky . According to the government contract, the company was required to provide comprehensive maintenance of engineering systems, cleaning of interior premises, as well as the surrounding area. In particular, among the service facilities was building 12 on Kolymazhny Lane, in the center of the capital, which houses the Central Television and Radio Studio of the Ministry of Defense. According to the investigation, no work was completed, but officials and managers of “Security and Communications” and “Slavyanka” signed fictitious acts on the completion of work and invoices for their payment.

The Ministry of Defense money was transferred to an account at Interkommerts Bank, and then it was transferred to the accounts of shell companies, cashed and embezzled. “During interrogation, Elkin stated that he did not commit theft, but admitted the fact of causing damage,” the investigator noted. “He said that the fictitious data was provided by mistake.” However, according to him, Elkin’s involvement was confirmed by witnesses, including the former head of the economic department of the Ministry of Defense Nikolai Butorov. He told investigators that Elkin misled him when signing certificates of completed work.

Allegedly, the suspect threatened the witness that either the provision of services would be suspended or the witness would feel bad. Butorov believed the threats because he knew that Elkin had a confidential relationship with ex-Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov .

Yulia Rotanova was an assistant to Elkin and Lugansky and actually kept “black accounting,” investigators believe. “Rotanova stated that she was going to leave for Thailand in the near future, which indicates her desire to leave Russia,” the investigator noted. According to him, during searches at the place of residence, a power of attorney was discovered to manage bank safe deposit boxes, which contained more than $4.5 million and 84.4 million rubles in cash. Both Elkin and Rotanova could manage the cells. In addition, more than 2 million rubles were found in Elkin’s house, as well as bank cards with 200 million rubles in the account.