Bailiffs are preparing to put under the hammer the property of those convicted of fraud in the defense industry

Zelenograd bailiffs have arrested and are preparing to put up for sale the property of the defendants in the case of the supply of counterfeit Chinese chips to a defense enterprise by managers of the Prime company. This was reported by a source of Izvestia familiar with the course of the trial. One of the defendants, in turn, is appealing against the bailiffs' decisions, despite the fact that the examination was carried out according to all norms and without violations.

Bailiffs are trying to recover almost 25.5 million rubles from those responsible for fraud. In particular, the share of the property owned by Kirill Stepaev, a high-ranking employee of Prime, was assessed. He, in turn, is appealing against the valuation of one of the arrested properties, considering it to be overstated, a source familiar with the process said. At the same time, the conducted forensic examination clearly indicated the value of the asset, and the bailiffs have no doubts about the competence of the experts.

As part of the verdict of the Zelenograd District Court of August 14, 2025, arrests on real estate, accounts and vehicles of convicts were extended. The perpetrators have so far reimbursed only 1.9 million rubles of losses to the injured party, despite promises to urgently and voluntarily give the money in full, the source added.

The top managers of Prime, Semyon Chichersky and Kirill Stepaev, as well as the head of the department, Alexander Sashin, received suspended sentences for fraud committed as part of an organized group on an especially large scale, and heavy fines. The verdict came into force on August 30.

In 2015, the founders of Prime signed a contract for the supply of high-tech microprocessors used in the manufacture of radars and fire control systems to NTC Elins. But since 2016, instead of approved components that were evaluated by the commission, the partners began to supply cheap Chinese analogues that did not meet the stated requirements.

The discrepancy was concealed by bribing the head of the department of equipment of the defense enterprise, Andrei Konovalov. For a fee, he ensured the prolongation of contractual relations — the manager turned a blind eye to the poor quality of the chips coming from accomplices, came up with reasons for the leadership of the NTC to continue purchasing electronics from Prime. The head of the department was responsible for making fake product tags and markings in the criminal group.

The fraud was revealed after Konovalov, a former NTC employee, was convicted in 2019 under the article on commercial bribery (art. 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). An employee of the company, who is already serving his sentence under the first sentence, was punished for fraud in the Prime case. In total, he was given six years of probation with a fine of half a million rubles.

It is noteworthy that even after the start of the criminal prosecution of the management of Prime, the company managed to conclude several dozen more contracts for the supply of its products.

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