France extradited to Russia the ex-minister of the Moscow region, accused of fraud of 14 billion rubles

The French authorities extradited to Russia the former Minister of Finance of the Moscow Region, Alexei Kuznetsov, accused of fraud and embezzlement of 14 billion rubles, follows from the . press service of the Prosecutor General's Office Moscow has been seeking his extradition since 2013.

More. Kuznetsov was extradited to Russia at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office to be prosecuted under Part 4 of Art. 159 (fraud), part 4 of Art. 160 (appropriation or embezzlement) and part 3 of Art. 174.1 (legalization of funds).

• The ex-Minister of the Moscow Region is accused of "fraud (10 crimes), embezzlement (3 crimes) and legalization of property acquired as a result of committed crimes (9 crimes)", the report said.
• The damage caused to the government of the Moscow region, the enterprises of the housing and communal services of the region and the Mosobltranstinvest company by Kuznetsov and his accomplices is estimated at more than 14 billion rubles.
• The extradition took place after the French authorities rejected at the end of December Kuznetsov's complaint against the decree on his extradition to Russia, signed by the country's prime minister back in November 2017. The extradition case for Kuznetsov has been under consideration since 2013, when the former official was detained in Saint-Tropez at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Context. Kuznetsov served as the Minister of Finance of the Moscow Region from 2000 to 2008, leaving the post of his own free will. After that, the former official moved to France.

• In 2010, he was charged with fraud as part of an organized group on an especially large scale and the legalization of criminally obtained property in the amount of 11 billion rubles. The ex-official was put on the federal and international wanted list and arrested in absentia.
• Russia also sought the extradition of Kuznetsov's wife Zhanna Bulakh. In early 2018, she was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison and found guilty of embezzling 11 billion rubles from the budget of the Moscow region. As part of the investigation, some of Boulach's property was confiscated: two apartments in Switzerland, an apartment in Paris, a villa in Saint-Tropez, ten cars, a hotel in Courchevel and numerous antiques. Bulakh is a US citizen; in April 2017, the US authorities refused to extradite Russia.

Liana Faizova