Gang members received from 10 to 13 years in prison for kidnapping a businessman in Moscow

Five gang members who abducted an entrepreneur in Moscow were sentenced to 10 to 13 years in prison. This was announced on March 24 by the Moscow prosecutor's office.

"It was established that Merzlikin, Tsabiy, Adamov, Suleymanov and Huseynov were involved in September 2020 as perpetrators to illegally obtain assets of a commercial bank in an especially large amount [more than 2.5 billion rubles], withdrawn according to a criminal scheme developed by the organizer of the crime a few days before the cancellation of the license of the credit institution," — we were informed on the agency's website.

The men were found guilty of extortion, kidnapping, and fraud.

To illegally obtain finances, the gang met with the founder of the company in a cafe, where, under threats, they insisted on transferring the company to a controlled entity. The men introduced themselves as law enforcement officers.

They also forced me to invite the actual owner of the business to the cafe. They tried to kidnap him, but the businessman managed to escape. As a result, the gang forcibly took the nominal founder to one of the park hotels. The attackers forced the businessman's wife and daughter to be invited there. They held them until the entrepreneur transferred the company that belonged to him to the specified person.

"Taking into account the position of the prosecutor's office, the court sentenced Suleymanov to 13 years in prison, Adamov to 12 years in prison, Merzlikin to 11 years in prison, Tsabiy and Huseynov were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. All of them will serve their sentences in a high—security penal colony," the Moscow prosecutor's office noted.

It is clarified that the verdict has not yet entered into force.

Earlier, on March 8, the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk, announced the detention in St. Petersburg of two men who abducted a teenager for the purpose of extortion. A criminal case was opened into the incident in accordance with Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Kidnapping").