Businessman convicted of VAT fraud in Saratov

The Kirovsky District Court of Saratov sentenced Saratov businessman Oleg Filchenkov, who was accused of fraud and money laundering. The court found that the director of the RosagroSaratov agricultural holding illegally reimbursed value added tax in the amount of more than 519 million rubles. The court agreed with the prosecution's position and sentenced the businessman to five years and two months in a general regime colony.

Photo: Dmitry Lekai, Kommersant / buy photo

The prosecutor's office of the Saratov region announced the sentencing of Oleg Filchenkov, director of the RosagroSaratov agricultural holding. He was accused of committing crimes under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud), clauses “a”, “b” art. 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (legalization of funds or other property acquired by a person as a result of committing crimes).

The court found that from April 2007 to November 2011, Oleg Filchenkov reflected in the accounting reports of the commercial structures he headed deliberately false information about financial and business transactions that actually did not exist, and then entered them into VAT returns.

“As a result of the criminal actions of an organized group headed by Oleg Filchenkov, during this period, funds were stolen in the form of refunded VAT in the amount of 519.49 billion rubles, part of which was legalized through civil transactions,” the prosecutor’s office reported.

Businessman Oleg Filchenkov, director of the agro-industrial holding RosagroSaratov, is the owner of several poultry farms in the region - Balashovskaya, Simonovskaya, Lysogorskaya, Krasnokutskaya, named after. K. Marx, Pokrovskoye LLC. In addition, in Saratov, the entrepreneur is listed as a co-owner of the Churchill steakhouse, and also has a stake in the Oktyabrskoe Gorge homeowners' association.

A criminal case against the entrepreneur was initiated on January 17, 2013 by the Main Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Saratov Region. On January 24, Oleg Filchenkov was discovered in the Penza region and detained. On February 1, 2013, he was charged. Filchenkov did not admit the accusation.

However, the court, agreeing with the opinion of the state prosecutor, sentenced Oleg Filchenkov to five years and two months in a general regime colony. In addition, as reported by the prosecutor's office, based on the results of the consideration of the criminal case, claims will be filed against the entrepreneur for compensation for damage caused by the crime in civil proceedings.

It is still unknown whether Oleg Filchenkov will appeal the court decision. The businessman's lawyer, Igor Fadeev, said that such a decision has not yet been made, but the defense has time for this. Mr. Fadeev declined to comment in detail.

Sergey Petunin, Saratov

Taxes were transferred to the general regime