The FSB opened a case against the head of Yevpatoria for abuse of power

In Crimea, the FSB department opened a case of abuse of power causing grave consequences (Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code) against the head of Yevpatoria Andrei Filonov, TASS reports with reference to the department’s press service.

Now Filonov is in the status of a suspect. The intelligence service does not disclose the essence of the criminal case. Investigative actions are taking place at Filonov’s home, as well as in the city administration.

A RIA Novosti source in law enforcement agencies reports that the head of the city has already been detained. Later, Kommersant, citing the press service of the FSB, confirmed the information about the arrest.

The intelligence service clarified that the criminal case against the official is related to the lease at a reduced price of 14 hectares of land owned by the city. The damage was estimated at 35 million rubles.

According to a Kryminform source, Filonov’s case contains more than 60 episodes of theft of money from the budget and abuse of official authority. “We are talking about hundreds of millions,” said the publication’s interlocutor.

He added that at least 40 searches are being carried out in the case of the mayor of Yevpatoria, and security forces are deciding the issue of detaining several people from Filonov’s entourage, including his two deputies - Marina Baidetskaya and Sergei Serobaba.

The day before, Filonov reported that the Yevpatoria City Court satisfied the claim of the prosecutor's office and dismissed him from the position of mayor. Filonov told Kryminform that the prosecutor's office went to court because the mayor appointed the father of his common-law wife as the head of one of the municipal enterprises of Yevpatoria. The decision has not yet entered into legal force.

Updated at 7:55 p.m. The news was supplemented by confirmation of information about Filonov’s detention.