Vasya Bandit's defense was refused to return the case to the prosecutor's office.

The Moscow court rejected the petition of the criminal authority's defender named Vasya Bandit (real name — Igor Kokunov) to return the case to the prosecutor's office. This was reported on January 21 by a correspondent of Izvestia.

"Questions about the evidence or lack of proof of guilt in the alleged crime and the validity of the charges are subject to verification when considering the criminal case on the merits," the judge said.

Earlier it became known that the court reopened the criminal case against Kokunov, who is accused of extorting $ 3 million.

On September 16, 2025, the Moscow Regional Court found Vasya Bandit guilty of occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy and sentenced him to eight years and two months in a special regime penal colony with a fine of 1 million rubles.

The investigation was completed at the end of April 2021, and then the court placed Kokunov under house arrest. In February 2022, the day before the new meeting, he took off his bracelet and ran away. In 2023, Vasya Bandit was put on the international wanted list, and later he was detained at a checkpoint between Albania and Montenegro on an Interpol warrant. In the fall of 2024, Kokunov was extradited to Russia.

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