A criminal case on bribery was opened against the founder of Rusagro Moshkovich.

A criminal case on bribery of an official has been initiated against Vadim Moshkovich, an entrepreneur, founder of the Rusagro agricultural holding and a former member of the Federation Council from the Belgorod Region. This was reported on May 20 by a correspondent of Izvestia from the courtroom.

"A criminal case has been opened against Moshkovich under Part 5 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the fact of giving a bribe to an official," the investigator said in the Moscow Meshchansky Court.

She added that 16 applicants who had suffered damage had been identified in the case.

On May 20, the court is considering the investigation's request to extend the arrest of Moshkovich and another person involved in the case, ex-CEO of Rusagro Maxim Basov.

Law enforcement officers detained Moshkovich and Basov at the end of March, and the court later took them into custody. The offices of Rusagro were searched.

The defendants were charged under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on an especially large scale") and under Article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Abuse of authority").

Vladislav Burov, the former owner of the Solar Products holding, Syngenta, the creditor company, and the Federal Tax Service are among the victims in the case. According to the investigation, the suspects persuaded Burov to sell 85% of his company's shares, promising investments that were never provided, which caused damage in the amount of 30 billion rubles.

The news is being updated