RBC: the detention of Senator Arashukov and his father was preceded by a conflict with the ex-head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karachay-Cherkessia and a report to Putin

Before the initiation of a criminal case, the senator from Karachay-Cherkessia Rauf Arashukov and his father Raul Arashukov had a conflict with the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Karachay-Cherkessia Kazimir Botashev, an interlocutor in the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told RBC.

The ministry, the source claims, received complaints against the Arashukovs from residents of the republic, whose businesses and real estate were taken away. In addition, adds RBC’s interlocutor in law enforcement agencies, “the conflict was aggravated” by the case filed in the summer of 2018 against the head of the logistics department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the republic, Mukhtar Pheshkhov.

Botashev headed the intelligence department of the National Guard in 2017. Through the deputy head of the National Guard, Sergei Chenchik, he turned to the new plenipotentiary representative in the North Caucasus Federal District, Alexander Matovnikov. The embassy, ​​according to RBC, by that time already had “a large amount of material” on the senator and his father.

“Matovnikov, together with the head of the Russian Guard, Viktor Zolotov, handed over these materials to the head of the Kremlin’s control department, Dmitry Shalkov, who showed them to the president,” said a source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In October 2018, investigator Andrei Gorbarchuk from the main department of the Investigative Committee arrived in the republic; he was accompanied by the service for the protection of the constitutional order and the fight against terrorism of the FSB.

“None of the Investigative Committee investigators, except him, knew what was happening in the case. And not a single employee of the departments of the Investigative Committee for the republic or the North Caucasus Federal District was allowed to participate in the investigation. All information was completely blocked,” said an RBC source familiar with the investigation.

In addition, the publication claims, the senator had a conflict with those close to the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. It arose due to the fact that Arashukov initiated inspections of the North Caucasus branch of Rosavtodor. It is headed by Ruslan Lechkhadzhiev, who is called a distant relative of Kadyrov.

RBC writes that this conflict ended in the Moscow “President Hotel” on Yakimanka, where Kadyrov’s associates allegedly beat Arashukov. At the same time, two other sources of the publication say that they simply “talked civilly with Arashukov, did not beat him.”

The case against the senator was initiated on the basis of a report from the head of department “K” of the Economic Security Service of the FSB, Ivan Tkachev. Arashukov was accused of organizing two murders (Part 3 of Article 33, paragraphs “g” and “h” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code), putting pressure on a witness (Part 4 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a criminal community (Part 3 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code) and was arrested.

The senator is accused of murdering the head of the Adyghe Khase public movement, Aslan Zhukov, and adviser to the president of the republic, Fral Shebzukhov. According to a TASS source in law enforcement agencies, the senator paid 1.5 million rubles for the execution of these murders.

The court sent the senator to a pre-trial detention center. In addition to him, his father, who is listed as an adviser to the general director of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, was also arrested. The defendants in the case also included the general director of Gazprom Gas Distribution Astrakhan and Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Astrakhan Ruslan Arashukov, the head of the Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Stavropol branch Guzer Khashukaev and the general director of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Stavropol Igor Travinov and the executive director of Essentukigorgaz Alan Kyatov.

They are all accused of fraud (Article 290 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a criminal community (Article 210 of the Criminal Code). The investigation believes that the accused are involved in the theft of gas from Gazprom in the amount of more than 30 billion rubles.

Updated at 4:33 p.m. Added information about the incident at the President Hotel.