Esipov, a defendant in the case of substandard body armor for the Russian Armed Forces, has pleaded guilty

Director General of the Piket Group of Companies Andrei Yesipov, against whom a criminal case of supplying substandard body armor for the Russian Armed Forces is being investigated, has pleaded guilty and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement with the investigation. This follows from official court documents.

"Yesipov does not intend to hide or otherwise obstruct the proceedings in the case, he is actively cooperating with the investigation, he admitted guilt and concluded a pre-trial agreement on cooperation," - quotes an excerpt from the materials of December 13 "RIA Novosti".

It is noted that Yesipov is charged with major fraud (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code) and giving a large bribe (part 5 of article 291 of the Criminal Code), adds "Gazeta.Ru". According to the investigators' version, employees of the Piket Group of Companies stole money from the RF Ministry of Defense, allocated for the implementation of the state contract for the supply of protective equipment. The defendants supplied at least 20,040 body armor vests that do not meet the stated requirements.

The criminal case also involves Piket's security chief Mikhail Kalchenko and its financial director Victoria Antonova. Later, new defendants appeared in the case: Sergei Semenikhin, Alexander Ermakov, Vyacheslav Portyannikov and Viktor Astapenko. They are charged with part 4 of Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code ("Mediation in bribery, committed on a large scale").

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Before that, December 3, it was reported that the financial director of "Piket" Antonova cooperates with the investigation. Basmanny court of Moscow extended her arrest until March 2025. Earlier, on December 1, it was reported that another defendant in the case - the director of organizational direction of "ConceptAviaprom" Portyannikov - began to cooperate with the investigation. He is accused of mediation in bribery on a large scale. Portyannikov is under house arrest.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested Esipov, CEO of Piket Group of Companies LLC, on April 6. A criminal case was opened under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on a particularly large scale"). In August it became known that the defendants in the case received at least 2.4 billion rubles from the Ministry of Defense. In the same month it was reported that the organization has shares in the authorized capitals of five companies, owns land plots and has more than 20 bank accounts.

In September, Esipov's involvement in the deliveries was confirmed by witnesses, as well as extracts from financial documents. It also became known that one of the defendants in the case admitted guilt and began to cooperate with the investigation, his name was not disclosed. In early October, Esipov and Antonova were added to the article on bribery.