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Non-competitive mass: the probable damage in the case of the deputy head of the DIA has grown to 3 billion
The amount of probable damage in the case of Alexander Popelyukh, deputy head of the Deposit Insurance Agency, increased 15—fold from 200 million to 3 billion rubles, two sources told Izvestia. The charges are based on fraud with the profits of the Aquamir water park in Novosibirsk — this money was supposed to go into the bankruptcy estate of the bankrupt Mezhtopenergobank, but in the end it was stolen, the investigation believes. The details of the crime were revealed after the arrest of Novosibirsk businessman Evgeny Bogorad, Izvestia found out. As a result, the investigation gained access to the correspondence, where the criminal scheme was allegedly discussed. Back in the mid-2010s, Bogorad himself was charged in another criminal case of embezzlement and had been hiding in Israel and the United States for a long time.
What is Alexander Popelyukh accused of?
Alexander Popelyukh, a top manager of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) state corporation, was arrested on October 9, 2024 at the request of the FSB investigative department. He was accused of fraud and abuse of office.
Initially, the media reported that the damage from his activities could amount to 200 million rubles. However, six months later, it grew to 3 billion rubles, two sources familiar with the investigation told Izvestia.
Claims against Popelyukh arose during the investigation of a fraudulent scheme related to the bankruptcy of the construction company VDT Stroy. She was credited by the Intertopenergobank and was unable to pay off the debt of 2.2 billion rubles. The bank itself was stripped of its license in 2017 for violating the law on money laundering and declared bankrupt.
The DIA was engaged in debt collection to the bank. As a result, in 2019, the agency managed VDT Stroy, Russia's largest Aquamir water park in Novosibirsk. According to investigators, Popelyukh turned a blind eye to schemes to underestimate the income from the operation of the water park, which is why a significant part of the money did not enter the bankruptcy estate. "In the post-pandemic years, the annual revenue of the aquapark was 1.5 billion rubles," the source told Izvestia.
Aquamir Entertainment complex in Novosibirsk
The company Belaya Sphere-Construction LLC was directly involved in the management of the water park. According to the latest available data, its revenues in 2023 amounted to more than 800 million rubles, and its net profit was 80 million rubles.
In 2021, Arkady Tarabrin and Novosibirsk lawyer Maxim Zubachev became co-owners of this company in equal shares. Tarabrin previously headed one of the companies that were part of RATM Holding, businessman Eduard Taran. Zubachev, according to investigators, represented the interests of businessman Evgeny Bogorad. Natalia Mukhanova, former Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Novosibirsk Region, headed the company.
Connections between Popelyukh and Bogorad
According to a source in law enforcement agencies, Bogorad and Popelyukh had known each other for a long time, including during the period when the future deputy head of the DIA served as deputy prosecutor of the Novosibirsk region (from 2013 to 2014). Bogorad was accused in a high-profile criminal case in those years.
In the 2000s, he headed the Siberian branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Federal Computer Center for Stock and Commodity Information Technologies (FT-Center), which managed various real estate properties. According to investigators, from 2006 to 2009, Bogorad, leading a criminal group, organized the theft of 238 million rubles. Of these, 88 million were cashed out. The defendants in the case concluded fictitious contracts for the protection of facilities, the provision of legal and other services.
Alexander Popelyukh
After the case was initiated in 2009, Bogorad hid abroad for eight years, first in the United States, then in Israel. In 2014, two of the seven defendants in the case were acquitted. The rest were found guilty of fraud and sentenced to three to six years of probation and fines of 50,000 to 100,000 rubles. In 2017, Bogograd himself returned to Novosibirsk. He voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement agencies. In 2019, the court also sentenced him to probation in this case.
However, in June 2024, Bogograd was arrested in another fraud case. According to the source of Izvestia, it arose as a result of checking information about possible corrupt ties of the entrepreneur, which allowed him to avoid a real term. During the arrest, Bogorad's phone was seized, in which, among other things, correspondence with Alexander Popelyukh was found. "This marked the beginning of the criminal case on the water park," the source assured Izvestia.
Evgeny Bogorad
According to investigators, Popelyukh and Bogorad agreed that the businessman's structures would take over the management of the aqua park, which was under the jurisdiction of the DIA. And then, allegedly, a scheme was implemented in which the income from the operation of the water park was underestimated, not received into the bankruptcy estate, but distributed among the participants in the criminal scheme.
After carrying out the necessary investigative actions and operational measures, in October 2024, FSB officers came to search Alexander Popelyukh's place of residence and work. He was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center. Arkady Tarabrin, founder of Belaya Sphere Construction LLC, Eduard Taran, head of RATM Holding, Natalia Mukhanova, former Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Novosibirsk Region, and Dmitry Voronin, bankruptcy trustee for VDT Stroy LLC, were placed under house arrest by the court.
Irina Shoch, Alexander Popelyukh's lawyer, declined to comment. Izvestia also sent a request to the press service of the Deposit Insurance Agency.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
