The court returned the indictment of Zhora Ivanteevsky to the prosecutor's office.

The Moscow City Court has returned to the prosecutor's office the criminal case of Georgy Zhavoronkov, known as Zhora Ivanteevsky. Lawyer Konstantin Barkovsky told Izvestia about this on February 27.

It is noted that six members of the group are also in the dock, among them Maxim and Ruslan Belozerov, Valery Kozhemyakin, Dmitry Konstantinov, Sergey Salin and Valery Titkov. Depending on their role in the gang, they are charged with extortion, theft, arms trafficking, attempted murder, and murder.

"The ruling of Judge Kondratieva, adopted on the basis of a petition from a representative of the Kondratiuk state prosecution, is absolutely illegal and unjustified. The decision to return the criminal case to the prosecutor in accordance with Article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation was made with a significant violation of the norms of substantive and procedural law, and the very fact of resuming the preliminary investigation is aimed solely at delaying the criminal process and continuing the illegal detention of bona fide and well—deserved entrepreneurs," said Barkovsky.

According to the lawyer, after many years of investigation of the case, as well as an unsuccessful judicial investigation, the only way for the prosecution to maintain a procedural face was the possibility of returning this criminal case to the prosecutor due to insufficient evidence gathered.

Barkovsky stressed that the representative of the state prosecution could not withdraw from the charges due to internal departmental indicators, so she had to "use a far-fetched pretext to resume the preliminary investigation." At the same time, the defense appealed this decision to a higher court.

According to investigators, Zhavoronkov, Kozhemyakin, Titkov, Ruslan and Maxim Belozerov, Konstantinov and Salin committed extortion from businessman Vladislav Yelchin on April 24, 2012 in the village of Tarasovka in the Pushkinsky district of the Moscow region. Threatening and using violence, they demanded to transfer to them 85% of the share in the authorized capital of LLC "Torgoptservice", which owned land plots worth almost 130 million rubles. The actions of the defendants are qualified under the article "Extortion committed by an organized group using violence."

In addition, Zhavoronkov, Kozhemyakin and Titkov are accused of murdering Yelchin and his driver Igor Chesnokov on November 17, 2014 in the Pushkin city district. After the murder, they stole Chesnokov's car, and also illegally acquired, stored, transported, and carried firearms and ammunition. These crimes are classified as murder committed by an organized group, illegal possession of a car without the purpose of theft and illegal arms trafficking.

On February 26, the Supreme Court of Russia approved a life sentence against the head of Russia's largest criminal group, Aslan Gagiev, nicknamed Jacko. Gagiev was convicted under articles on the organization of a criminal community, the murder of two or more persons committed by an organized group and associated with banditry, the creation of three stable armed groups (gangs), as well as the illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition.

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