Former Sochi Mayor Kopaigorodsky pleaded not guilty in corruption case

Former Sochi Mayor Alexei Kopaigorodsky pleaded not guilty in court in a corruption case. This was announced on March 18 by a correspondent of Izvestia from the courtroom.

"The accusation has been clarified and understood by me. I do not admit guilt, I did not commit these crimes," Kopaygorodsky said.

The wife of the former official, Yanina, also refused to plead guilty, as did the third person involved in the case, her assistant, Alexander Pasunko. The Moscow Meshchansky court earlier that day refused to transfer the wife of the ex-mayor of Sochi to house arrest.

Desiring a room: the trial of the seizure of assets of the ex-mayor of Sochi has begun

The supervisory authority demands the seizure of real estate, wine, watches and an antique rifle.

On January 14, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit stating that diamonds and 50 real estate objects were found in Kopaigorodsky's family. According to the investigation, from 2022 to 2024, Kopaygorodsky stole two plots of land in Sochi with a total value of at least 26 million rubles. On January 16, the Khostinsky district Court of Sochi satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation and seized the property of Kopaygorodsky and his family in favor of the state in the amount of about 1.6 billion rubles.

In November last year, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office approved a criminal indictment against Kopaigorodsky, his wife Yanina and assistant Alexander Pasunko. Kopaygorodsky was detained on September 25, 2024 in the special operation zone, where he had gone some time ago as a volunteer.

At the same time, he was arrested until November 18. The ex-mayor is charged with embezzlement of 3.7 million rubles, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is also being investigated for involvement in other crimes.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.