Oleg Bekhterev was suspected of taking a bribe

In the Chelyabinsk region, a criminal case has been initiated against the former and. O. Minister of Social Relations of the region Oleg Bekhterev. He is suspected of receiving a bribe in the amount of 5 million rubles. from the management of the Intekhprod company for assistance in obtaining government orders. At the moment, the investigation is deciding whether to bring charges against him. Oleg Bekhterev, who is under house arrest, has already admitted the fact of providing assistance to the company during the investigation.

Photo: Anton Vaganov, Kommersant / buy photo

As Vladimir Shishkov, senior assistant to the head of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region, told Kommersant, his department has opened a criminal case for receiving a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) by former acting. O. Minister of Social Relations Oleg Bekhterev (held this position in 2013–2014). “According to the investigation, in the period from December 2013 to February 2014, Mr. Bekhterev received a bribe in the amount of 5 million rubles. from the director of a commercial organization for concluding government contracts at inflated prices and without conducting auction procedures. A criminal case has been opened both against the ex-official and against the bribe-giver,” noted Vladimir Shishkov, refusing to comment in more detail on the case. The department only explained that they are now deciding whether to bring charges against the ex-official.

According to Kommersant's information, the reason for starting the investigation was the materials of another criminal case - about fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which since December 2014 was conducted by investigators of the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Chelyabinsk region. Investigators became interested in the official after employees of the economic security and anti-corruption department of the regional police headquarters, together with employees of the regional FSB Directorate, established the fact that the regional Ministry of Social Protection had concluded a number of contracts in 2013 at inflated prices with the Intekhprod Company LLC. According to SPARK data, in 2013 the company participated in 52 public procurement competitions, 35 of which it won and received more than 134 million rubles from the budget. (in 2014, only seven contracts worth RUB 3.2 million were concluded). According to investigators, the inflated contracts concerned the supply of rehabilitation equipment for disabled people to budgetary institutions. At the same time, the official himself received 5 million rubles for this. through an affiliated company.

As a source in the region’s law enforcement agencies explained to Kommersant, during the investigation, it was decided to reclassify the actions of the former official as taking a bribe. “Most likely, another article may appear in Bekhterev’s case - misappropriation or embezzlement (Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation),” added Kommersant’s interlocutor.

It was not possible to contact Oleg Bekhterev himself, who is under house arrest and has the right, by court decision, to walk around the city for two hours a day. However, it is known that even during the investigation of the fraud case, he admitted his guilt in assisting the Intechprod company in obtaining government orders.

It was also impossible to get comments from the Intekhprod company. They noted that only company managers can discuss questions about the criminal case, but found it difficult to explain when CEO Irina Kem could be found, noting that she rarely appears in the office.

Igor Lesovskikh, Ekaterinburg

Chelyabinsk official earned extra money on government contracts