Decision to open case against fugitive Russian judge delayed

On Friday, Russia’s High Qualification Board of Judges was again unable to hear a request from Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin to initiate legal proceedings against Moscow Commercial Court Judge Irina Baranova, RAPSI reports from the courtroom. The qualification board postponed the hearing explaining that it needs to question Baranova first. Baranova, who is suspected of assisting corporate raiders, did not attend the board meeting. Bastrykin filed a request to prosecute Baranova in January 2014. In January, the Federal Security Service reported that Baranova left Russia on December 21, 2013, allegedly for a vacation in Miami, Florida. Investigators have no information on whether she has returned to Russia.

http://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141128/272674786.html

Nephew of ex-president of Kyrgyzstan released from prison

Sanjar Bakiev, the nephew of the former president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, has completed his prison term after being convicted of organizing mass riots, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing the Kyrgyz penal service. Sanjar Bakiev was sentenced in November 2010 to 10 years’ imprisonment for organizing riots by groups loyal to President Bakiev in the southern city of Jalal-Abad in May 2010. Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev © RIA Novosti Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev A raid of his apartment revealed a large inventory of firearms, special equipment, ammunition, computers and portable radio sets. Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court later cut his prison term to five years and a fine of 75,000 som (about $1,800). Kurmanbek Bakiev fled the country amid antigovernment protests in April 2010. He was sentenced in absentia to life in prison in Kyrgyzstan for his role in the uprising, which left almost 100 people dead.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141120/272618412.html

Magnitsky relatives appeal against his posthumous prosecution in Supreme Court

The mother of Hermitage Capital auditor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a detention facility, appealed to the Russian Supreme Court to block the posthumous prosecution of her son, Hermitage Capital informed RAPSI on Thursday. Hermitage Capital noted that in her appeal, Natalya Magnitskaya claims that the courts of lower instance refused to find the actions of an Interior Ministry investigator illegal. “It is the court’s responsibility to verify the validity and legitimacy of the investigator’s statement. In this case the investigator’s claims were not verified by any evidence,” the appeal states. For their part, the Press Service of the Supreme Court confirmed that the court had received an appeal from Natalya Magnitskaya regarding the May 22, 2014 ruling of the Tverskoi District Court and said it is currently under consideration. Magnitsky worked for Firestone Duncan and represented Hermitage Capital which was accused of tax evasion by Russian authorities. Magnitsky was arrested on fraud charges in November 2008 and found dead in a Moscow detention center in November 2009. Last July, the Tverskoi District Court of Moscow found Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion and closed the case due to his death. According to the case materials, Magnitsky’s and Hermitage Capital director William Browder’s actions cost the Russian Federation over 500 million rubles ($10.6 mln). Browder was sentenced to nine years in prison in absentia.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141120/272620097.html

CEO of French Total Killed in Moscow Airport Accident

The chief executive of French oil major Total, Christophe de Margerie, was killed when his private jet collided with a snow plow as it was taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport on Monday night. De Margerie's death leaves a void at the top of one of the world's biggest listed oil firms at a difficult time for the industry as oil prices fall and state-backed competitors keep them out of some of the best oil exploration territory. The collision occurred minutes before midnight Moscow time as de Margerie's Dassault Falcon jet was taking off for Paris. Russia's Investigative Committee said the driver of the snow plow had been drunk and that a criminal investigation had been launched. The plane's three crew also died, said Total. The airport said visibility was 350 meters (1,150 feet) at the time of the crash.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/21/us-russia-total-ceo-idUSKCN0I92HF20141021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC6eHcK_3bY

Russia Places Billionaire Evtushenkov Under House Arrest

Billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov, the richest Russian to face criminal charges since Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was placed under house arrest yesterday on suspicion of money laundering. The accusations stem from a probe into the alleged theft of shares in oil assets in Russia’s Bashkortostan region in which Evtushenkov’s AFK Sistema acquired full control in 2009, according to the Investigative Committee. Sistema said the accusations were “completely groundless” and vowed to use all possible legal means to make their case. Khodorkovsky, released in December after a decade in prison, said OAO Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin, a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, may have engineered the arrest to pressure Evtushenkov into selling his oil company, OAO Bashneft, Vedomosti newspaper reported. Rosneft isn’t interested in Bashneft, and Khodorkovsky’s comments aren’t true, Mikhail Leontyev, a spokesman for the state-run company, said by phone today. Khodorkovsky has accused Sechin of orchestrating his own arrest and the dismantling of his Yukos Oil Co., most of which Rosneft later acquired, a claim Rosneft has denied. Evtushenkov has a fortune estimated at $6.9 billion, making him the 19th richest Russian on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, largely from oil producer Bashneft and OAO Mobile TeleSystems, the biggest mobile operator in Russia. Khodorkovsky was Russia’s richest man at the time of his arrest in 2003.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/russia-places-billionaire-evtushenkov-under-house-arrest.html

Ousted Kyrgyz President Bakiev Sentenced To Life

Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has been sentenced to life in prison in absentia for involvement in the 2010 killing of protesters during the uprising that ousted him. The Bishkek Military Court also sentenced Bakiev's brother, Janysh Bakiev, who was the head of the presidential guard, and former Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov to life in prison in absentia on July 25. Another 25 defendants in the case, including several of Bakiev's relatives and associates, were sentenced to prison terms ranging between six and 25 years. The defendants were found guilty of either having fired upon or given the command to open fire on protesters in Bishkek during antigovernment protests in April 2010 that led to Bakiev's ouster. Nearly 100 people were killed and some 400 wounded in the clashes in central Bishkek. The trial started in 2011. Bakiev is living in Belarus with several family members.

http://www.rferl.org/content/bakiev-april-2010-sentence-trial-court-bishkek/25469819.html

Russia Accuses US of 'Kidnapping' MP's Son

The Kremlin is accusing the U.S. of "kidnapping" alleged Russian hacker Roman Valerevich Seleznev after the Secret Service arrested the 30-year-old for allegedly installing malicious software to steal credit numbers, the International Business Times reported. Russia is calling the U.S. arrest of Seleznev "yet another unfriendly gesture" by the United States. Prosecutors say Seleznev, who's scheduled for a July 22 hearing, programmed malicious software to steal credit numbers, using computer servers all over the world. He is charged with bank fraud, obtaining information from a protected computer, possessing stolen credit cards and identity theft. According to Russian media, Seleznev is the son of Russian MP Valery Seleznev. The Russian Parliament member reportedly told the Itar-Tass news agency that he was unable to speak with his son, but called the allegations a "monstrous lie and a provocative act." "We consider this as the latest unfriendly move from Washington. This is not the first time the US side, ignoring a bilateral treaty ... on mutual assistance in criminal matters, has gone ahead with what amounts to the kidnapping of a Russian citizen," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website. Seleznev was arrested July 5 by the U.S. Secret Service in an airport in the Maldives. He was taken to Guam where he appeared in court on Monday, according to the International Business Times. Seleznev faces up to 30 years in jail if found guilty of the charges, which include bank fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and aggravated identity theft. Meanwhile Seleznev Sr., the lawmaker, called for "retaliation" against the Maldives that assisted U.S. authorities in the arrest.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/08/russia-accuses-us-kidnapping-hacker-roman-valerevich-seleznev-after-arrest-by/

Ukrainian Ultranationalist Killed in Special Operation

Ukrainian ultranationalist Olexander Muzychko, put on an international wanted list for committing war atrocities in Russia's Chechnya, was gunned down overnight in an operation by Ukrainian special forces, a senior official in the country said Tuesday. Muzychko, also known as Sashko Bilyi, was located Monday near a cafe in the western Ukrainian city of Rovno in an operation launched by special forces to neutralize a suspected militant group. Muzychko, an activist in Ukraine’s radical Right Sector party and an active participant in earlier riots (street protests) in Kiev, attempted to escape through a window and opened fire on law enforcement, injuring one of the officers before being killed by return fire, according to First Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Yevdokimov. “Muzychko was shot in his leg, but he tried to return fire. Later when he was kicked down to the ground, he kept shooting and was injured. Doctors have confirmed Muzychko’s death,” Yevdokimov said, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency. Three other suspected gunmen were detained during the operation. Earlier this month Muzychko accused the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office and police in a YouTube video of a plot to kill him or capture and hand him over to Russian special services. Muzychko was put on an international wanted list on suspicion of torturing and murdering at least 20 Russian servicemen in Chechnya in the early 2000s. He was arrested in absentia by a court in southern Russia earlier this month.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140325/188734855/Most-Wanted-Ukrainian-Ultranationalist-Killed-in-Special-Operation.html

Four Criminal Cases Launched Against Ukraine’s Fugitive Leader

Ukrainian prosecutors have opened more criminal against fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych, including on charges of unconstitutional seizure of power, extremism and money laundering. Acting prosecutor general and member of the nationalist Svoboda party, Oleh Makhnitsky, told reporters on Thursday that Yanukovych is wanted on power abuse and murder charges. Last month, Ukraine requested Interpol to issue Red Notice, or an international wanted persons alert, for Yanukovych as part of that criminal case. “Another criminal case concerns illegal acquisition of state property in especially large quantities… and money laundering,” Makhnitsky said.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140314/188399915/Four-Criminal-Cases-Launched-Against-Ukraines-Fugitive-Leader.html

Russia Grants Amnesty to Former Defense Minister

Russia’s top federal law enforcement agency has closed a criminal case against the former defense chief, but the probe into a multi-million dollar embezzlement in the ministry continues. Anatoly Serdyukov was given amnesty by the Investigative Committee after a personal request from the former minister, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday quoting an unnamed source acquainted with the situation. According to the source military prosecutors had no objection and the amnesty request was agreed almost immediately. However, Serdyukov’s defense attorney Konstantin Rivkin has refused to confirm the report. The Investigative Committee has not commented on the report either. The amnesty that halted the probe into the former official was put in place in December last year to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the modern Russian Constitution. It applied to first-time offenders tried for crimes not connected with violence against representatives of authority and sentenced to terms of up to five years. The news of Serdyukov’s amnesty was first circulated by the Russian media in late February. Then the agencies quoted an anonymous source in the Investigative Committee and military police as saying that the ex-minister was seeking amnesty as a person with state decorations who took part in active combat. (This is a reference to the brief war with Georgia in August 2008 when Anatoly Serdyukov occupied the defense minister’s post). Anatoly Serdyukov served asdefense minister from February 2007 till November 2012 when he was sacked after investigators uncovered a huge embezzlement scheme run by his subordinates in the real estate and other branches of the ministry. According to law enforcers, the suspects managed to defraud the state of about $215 million.

http://rt.com/politics/minister-defense-russia-amnesty-142/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/uk-russia-amnesty-serdyukov-idUKBREA250GY20140306

Russian Billionaire Arrested over Bank Fraud

Russian billionaire environmentalist Gleb Fetisov, who owned a bank that lost its license last month, has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of grand fraud. Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Friday that his agency requested the arrest of former senator Fetisov, who was listed as Russia’s 55th wealthiest businessmen in a Forbes rich list last year. Markin said Fetisov was suspected of siphoning out more than 6 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) from Moi Bank’s coffers and failing to pay off insurance compensation to clients following the bank’s closure. A criminal investigation has been launched against Fetisov and his suspected accomplices in connection with the alleged large-scale embezzlement, the spokesman said. Markin added that investigators were looking into Fetisov’s possible involvement in similar criminal activities.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140228/187966327/Russian-Green-Tycoon-Detained-Suspected-of-Bank-Fraud.html

Dagestan Lawmaker Accused of Laundering $2.7 Bln

A lawmaker in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan has been accused of laundering 100 billion rubles ($2.7 billion) in a banking scheme involving fly-by-night firms, police said Thursday. The municipal assembly deputy, who has not been named, is believed to be part of a criminal group of bankers that was exposed in a major operation in March. The cash laundered in the scheme was disguised as printed materials and flown to Moscow from the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, and later distributed among clients, which included major finance and credit organizations. Four people were arrested when they received over 500 million rubles ($14 million), police said. Authorities believe the deputy under investigation headed a group that recruited legal entities to use their accounts for illicit banking operations.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140227/187934175/Dagestan-Lawmaker-Accused-of-Major-Cash-Laundering-Scheme.html

Russian Ex-Official Pays Steward, Airline Over Drunken Brawl

A former Russian deputy governor who forced a plane to make an emergency landing after drunkenly attacking a flight attendant has had charges against him dropped Thursday after paying compensation to the offended parties. Former Chelyabinsk deputy governor Andrei Tretyakov hit the headlines in December after being arrested for assaulting a steward who refused to let him to use a business class toilet. Tretyakov was traveling economy on a Krasnoyarsk-Moscow flight, which was forced to land midway in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk as a result of the incident. Flight attendant Anton Chernyshov, who police said was hospitalized with bruising and a head injury after the sustained attack, says the former deputy governor paid him 1.25 million rubles ($34,700) in damages. Chernyshov said he asked a court in the Siberian city of Ob to drop the case after receiving compensation. Tretyakov told the court Thursday that he had also paid the airline, Globus, “about 300,000 rubles” ($8,300) for the aborted flight. He had been facing up to two years in prison for causing bodily harm to the flight attendant.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140228/187938383/Ex-Official-Pays-Steward-Airline-Over-Drunken-Brawl.html

Warrant Issued for Deposed Ukraine Leader for Mass Murder

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant Monday for the deposed president, Viktor Yanukovych, on charges of mass murder. Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Yanukovych was being sought in connection with the killings of “innocent citizens,” a reference to protesters killed during clashes last week between anti-government protesters and police. “Yanukovych and other officials have been declared wanted,” Avakov said in a statement on his Facebook account. Yanukovych fled the Ukrainian capital Saturday, one day after tentative deal mediated by the EU and Russia was reached to call early elections and form an interim government. As that deal quickly fell apart and members of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions resigned en masse, parliament voted to impeach the president and installed a new acting head of state in his place. Acting president and parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said Yanukovych tried to board a charter plane in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk over the weekend, but was prevented from doing so by customs officers.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140224/187842480/Warrant-Issued--for-Deposed-Ukraine-Leader-for-Mass-Murder.html

Ex-Director of EBRD Pleads Not Guilty to Extortion Charges

Yelena Kotova, Russia’s former top representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) who has been charged with seeking a bribe of $1.4 million, pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday, the RAPSI legal news agency reports from the Moscow courtroom. Igor Lebedev, a former top manager of a leading Russian bank, also denied charges against him. The court will examine evidence and question some foreign witnesses on February 12. The Interior Ministry announced last January that Kotova and Lebedev had been charged with abuse of office and using their ties in the business community to solicit funds from a Canadian oil company. The investigation discovered that Kotova allegedly solicited $1.425 million from representatives of a Canadian oil company in exchange for helping it get a $95 million loan from the EBRD.

http://en.ria.ru/crime/20140205/187227733/Ex-Director-of-EBRD-Pleads-Not-Guilty-to-Extortion-Charges.html

Russian Changes Gender to Dodge Debts

Police in southern Russia are searching for a man who was previously a woman and is believed to have changed gender to avoid paying thousands of rubles in debts and unpaid fines, local bailiffs said Monday. The bailiff service of the southern Astrakhan region said the 38-year-old, identified only as Natalya, had changed her sex and assumed the name of Andrian after accumulating debts of about 130,000 rubles ($3,800), including an unpaid court fine of 70,000 rubles for assaulting a police officer. As a man, the suspect has accumulated six new debts in the form of unpaid taxes, said the bailiff service, which is responsible for making sure that Russian citizens pay their bills. A spokesperson for the service told the Agence-France Presse news agency that changing gender and identification papers “would not cancel the debts Andrian acquired as a woman.” “If a debtor thinks he can escape that way, he’s very much mistaken,” the AFP quoted the official as saying. The suspect’s last name has not been disclosed.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140128/186965715/Russian-Changes-Gender-to-Dodge-Debts.html

US Hands Armenian Gang Member 8-Year Prison Term

An alleged Armenian gang leader has been sentenced to eight years in prison in California after pleading guilty to involvement in a $2 million bank card scam, as well as drug and weapons charges. Karo Yerkanyan, described by US prosecutors as a leader of the “Armenian Power” gang in California, was sentenced to five years of supervised release last week in addition to the eight-year prison term on charges related to racketeering, bank fraud, identity theft, marijuana trafficking and illegal firearms possession, according to federal court documents. Yerkanyan, who is also known by the nickname “Guilty,” pleaded guilty in a federal court to involvement in a scam that used illegally obtained information from victims’ bank cards to open fraudulent bank accounts, loans and credit lines at HSBC Bank and Bank of America, US prosecutors said in September. The information was stolen using so-called “skimming” devices to steal customers’ bank information at cash registers, causing more than $2 million in damages, prosecutors said.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20131216/185623443/US-Hands-Armenian-Gang-Member-8-Year-Prison-Term.html

Russian Governor Beaten and Robbed in French Home

The governor of a Russian region has been assaulted and robbed of $275,000 worth of jewellery whilst in his house in the south of France, his spokeswoman said Tuesday. Lev Kuznetsov, the governor of Krasnoyarsk region in Siberia, was shot with an air gun by intruders and his wife was hit with a baton during the attack on Saturday, according to his spokeswoman Stella Alekseeva. The house where the incident took place is in Antibes on France's south coast, and is reportedly owned by Kuznetsov, who has held the post of Krasnoyarsk governor since 2010. “The governor was on a short break when this unpleasant incident occurred,” said Alekseeva, adding that Kuznetsov was feeling better and had already resumed his official duties.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131217/185636377/Russian-Governor-Beaten-and-Robbed-of-275000-in-French-Home.html

Duma Deputies Fistfight, Golden Gun Reported

A disagreement about a statue in a State Duma deputy's native republic of Chechnya led to two lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party getting involved in a fistfight that ended when a golden gun reportedly fell from Chechen lawmaker Adam Delimkhanov's pocket. The scuffle kicked off Tuesday near an elevator in the Duma building, where Delimkhanov approached fellow deputy Alexei Zhuravlyov and started “making claims” about his criticism of the opening of a monument to Chechen women that resisted Russian troops during the region's conquest in the 19th century, Zhuravlyov's spokeswoman Sofya Cherepanova said. According to Cherepanova, many witnesses saw that Delimkhanov began the fight with a punch to Zhuravlyov's face and also threatened to kill the fellow United Russia member. After the fight, an ambulance arrived at the Duma to provide the lawmakers with first aid. Zhuravlyov was left with bruises on his nasal bridge and eyebrow, the deputy's spokeswoman Cherepanova said, adding that a friend of the lawmaker who had come to visit him in the Duma and tried to stop the fight had to be hospitalized and was missing two of his front teeth. The two lawmakers had made peace by late Wednesday, however. They announced the reconciliation after talking to Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin and United Russia's Duma faction leader Vladimir Vasilyev. Though the deputies claim to have moved beyond their fight, observers remained worried about whether and how Delimkhanov brought a gun through metal detectors in the Duma. Delimkhanov is suspected of masterminding the 2009 murder of Chechen military commander Sulim Yamadayev in Dubai, where the attackers discarded a gold-plated handgun. The United Russia deputy had been on an international wanted list at the request of the United Arab Emirates, before Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov visited the UAE and local investigators dropped the charges against Delimkhanov without explanation in July 2012.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/duma-deputies-fistfight-reconcile/490845.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-25219858
http://slon.ru/fast/russia/u-adama-sultanovicha-vypal-zolotoy-pistolet-i-my-reshili-prekratit-vse-deystviya-1028557.xhtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2013/12/131203_duma_fight_golden_pistol.shtml

http://kp.ua/daily/070409/175913/ (golden gun; 2009 Dubai police photo)

Bolshoi Star Sentenced to 6 Years in Jail for Acid Attack

A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced a star ballet dancer at the Bolshoi Theater to six years in jail for organizing an acid attack on his troupe’s artistic director, bringing a highly charged trial to a close. The judge at Meshchansky Court ruled that Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko and two co-defendants were guilty of causing grievous bodily harm, RIA Novosti’s RAPSI legal news service reported. Sergei Filin sustained third-degree burns to his face and eyes in the attack in January. The judge said in her verdict that Dmitrichenko had organized the attack because he was disgruntled at the way Filin was acquitting his duties. Dmitrichenko has claimed he only wanted to have Filin beaten up, but the judge dismissed the testimony as an attempt to avoid criminal responsibility.

http://en.ria.ru/crime/20131203/185232467/Bolshoi-Star-Found-Guilty-of-Organizing-Acid-Attack.html