Forest planting: why an ex-Defense Ministry official was sentenced for 17 years
Lawyers called the sentence handed down on November 25 to Dmitry Kurakin, former head of the Defense Ministry's Property Relations Department, rather strict but within the law. The Nikulinsky Court of Moscow sentenced him to 17 years in a strict regime colony. This is exactly as much as the prosecutor requested during the debate. The former official issued permits to cut down valuable tree species under the guise of forest sanitation, and then cedars, larches and century-old pines were sold to China. The court found Kurakin guilty of abuse of power and taking bribes. Two of his accomplices received 14 years in prison each. The IC estimated the damage from their activities at 4 billion rubles. Taking this into account, the terms of the ex-officers of the military department will be reduced in appeal, but not more than for half a year, experts believe.
What Dmitry Kurakin was convicted for
Nikulinsky district court of Moscow sentenced Dmitri Kurakin, ex-head of the Department of Property Relations of the Ministry of Defense, to 17 years in a strict regime colony. The ex-officer and his accomplices - former head of Oboronles Vladislav Kholodkov and ex-head of Malta Military Forestry Maxim Ahn - were found guilty of illegal logging in the territory of military units, abuse of power and taking bribes. The damage caused by their actions was estimated by investigators at 4 billion rubles.
Dmitry Kurakin was detained on November 17, 2020 following an interrogation in the Investigative Committee. At that time, he held the position of Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Moscow region - Minister of Ecology and Nature Management. But he was incriminated with actions that he had committed before, when he headed the Department of property relations of the Ministry of Defense in 2012-2017.
By the way, Kurakin replaced Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a figurehead in the high-profile Oboronservis case, in the Defense Ministry department - Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov resigned amid that scandal. Vasilyeva was later sentenced to five years for fraud in the sale of military assets, but she was released from prison on parole.
According to the investigation, Dmitry Kurakin found a way to get illegal income while working in the Ministry of Defense. It follows from the case file: taking advantage of his official position, he drew up documents for illegal felling of valuable forests, which were located on the lands of the Defense Ministry.
According to the papers, the forests were sanitized, i.e. only diseased trees were cut down. In reality, the felling was total - cedars, larches and century-old pines were sold to merchants for pennies. The investigation estimates the amount of bribes paid by businessmen to officials for the execution of such documents to be at least 40 million rubles. The timber was then exported to China, and the areas cleared of plantations were sold to entrepreneurs for landfills and cottage developments.
The investigation believes that the forest was illegally cut down in different regions, but the case, which was considered in court, included only two episodes. Both concerned military forestry areas in the Irkutsk region, namely taiga forests on an area of about 4 thousand hectares.
They cut down and sat down
Criminal case against Kurakin, Kholodkov and Ana Nikulinsky district court began to consider in January 2023. However, soon returned the materials to the prosecutor's office due to a number of uncertainties. In particular, the case did not specify the specific place and time of the offenses, nor did it identify the bribe-givers.
The case returned to the court in September of the same year. During the debate of the parties, the prosecutor requested that Dmitry Kurakin be sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment, and Vladislav Kholodkov and Maxim An - 14 years each. The court fully agreed with the prosecution. In addition, the defendants will pay a fine of Br369 million each.
The prosecutor also asked to deprive the key defendant of the right to hold positions in government agencies and the armed forces. The court also granted this request.
From the verdict it became known that Kurakin has two dependent minor children born in 2009 and 2011, and he lived in Odintsovsky district of Moscow region in the prestigious cottage village "Polyanka Deluxe".
Since November 2023, Kurakin had been under house arrest. The court decided to count two days under it for one day in a strict regime colony. All three convicts were taken into custody in the courtroom.
The court also satisfied two civil suits, which were filed in the criminal case. This is a claim of the Federal State Agency of Forestry Management of the Ministry of Defense - the court ruled to collect nearly 1.3 billion rubles from the convicts jointly as compensation for the damage caused by the crime. On the second claim in favor of the Ministry of Defense, the court ruled to recover from the convicts material damage in the amount of 393 million rubles.
Why the court passed a strict sentence
The criminal scheme imputed to the official is primitive, believes Vladimir Voronin, managing partner of Altavista Law Firm.
-Expensive species of wood, which were given to businessmen practically for free, were sold at market prices, which brought them a significant profit, and the official received a cash reward for this, the so-called kickback , - said the lawyer. - The scheme is not new, with one or another change it has been encountered in different regions of the country.
Huge criminal income, which was received by Kurakin, as well as significant damage to the Russian treasury could be the reason for a harsh sentence, said Vladimir Voronin.
In addition to receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale, which carries a penalty of eight to 15 years in prison, Kurakin was charged with abuse of power (up to 10 years in prison), illegal manufacture of weapons (four to six years) and illegal possession of weapons (three to five years), reminded "Izvestia" partner of the law firm "Intellectual Capital" Dmitry Ulyanov.
- With such a combination of crimes, the type and amount of punishment requested by the prosecutor for the ex-Defense Ministry official is absolutely within the norm," the lawyer said.
Is it possible to change the verdict on appeal
The sentence can be called quite strict, but it is within the law, confirmed "Izvestia" partner of NOVATOR Legal Group Oleg Dyachkov. The imposition of a strict regime on such a charge is also common, he added.
Receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale is a particularly grave offense, for which strict regime is always imposed, Oleg Dyachkov reminded. For such crimes, as a rule, an additional punishment in the form of a fine, the amount of which corresponds to a multiple of the bribe.
- The fine is calculated from a hundred times the amount, so a bribe of a million rubles may result in a fine of Br100 million," said the lawyer. - In practice, fines of Br500 million and much more are encountered. In general, now there is a tendency to harsh punishment for corruption crimes, especially in the defense sector. Besides, we are talking about a defendant with a high position, and such defendants are usually asked for strict punishment to set an example for other officials.
At the same time, all the lawyers interviewed by Izvestia believe that the verdict is unlikely to change much on appeal. The tendency in similar cases is as follows: if the sentence is changed downward, it is only slightly - from one or two months to six months, the lawyers summarized.
Dmitry Kurakin's lawyer refused to comment to journalists.
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