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- More expensive than coverage: the defendants in the case of embezzlement of billion from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were sent to the colony
More expensive than coverage: the defendants in the case of embezzlement of billion from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were sent to the colony
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court has sentenced the defendants in the case of embezzlement of 1.1 billion rubles during the supply of cars for the traffic police. According to the investigation, Yevgeny Nikitenko, a former employee of the Interior Ministry's Main Directorate for Road Safety, Elena Yakovleva, a Skoda representative, and two entrepreneurs deliberately overestimated the cost of supplying and converting passenger cars into patrol cars and embezzled the difference. The court sentenced them to terms of six to seven and a half years in a general regime colony and reimbursement of 1.1 billion rubles in favor of the Interior Ministry. The defense of the convicts is going to appeal the verdict. Details of the case - in the material "Izvestia".
How Skoda Octavia was remodeled into patrol cars
December 9, Zamoskvoretsky District Court found a former employee of the Main Department for Road Safety of the Interior Ministry Evgeny Nikitenko, manager for corporate clients of Skoda division Elena Yakovleva, founder of LLC "Training and Support Center "Movement" Sergei Kuzmenko and CEO of the same firm Denis Davydov guilty of fraud in the conversion of cars into patrol cars for the needs of the traffic police.
The criminal case was initiated back in March 2021. The reason was the report of the FSB and the Moscow Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption (UEBiPK) that, in their opinion, the prices for the conversion of Skoda Octavia cars into patrol cars for the police were seriously overestimated. The defendants were accused of fraud on a particularly large scale, committed with the use of official position.
As follows from the case materials, 4 thousand converted Skoda cars were to be delivered to the Interior Ministry units across Russia by 2029. The deliveries took place within the framework of the national project "Safe and Quality Roads", which provided for the renewal of the State Automobile Inspectorate's fleet of patrol cars.
The tender for re-equipment was won by the Dvizhenie training and support center. This organization specialized in car parts and accessories, and also had the exclusive right to convert civilian cars into patrol cars, the IC reported. Later, technical and financial expertise, conducted during the investigation, found that the cost of spare parts was overestimated in almost all 4,000 patrol cars.
As follows from the indictment, in 2019, the founder of "Movement" Sergey Kuzmenko "became aware of the allocation of significant budgetary funds by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the implementation of the national project "Safe and quality highways."
As a result, "Kuzmenko, Davydov, Nikitenko and Yakovleva united in an organized group and implemented a complex multi-stage scheme of embezzlement of budgetary funds with the involvement of leading representatives of the automotive business in Russia". At the same time, the investigators added, the managers and representatives of the automobile companies "were not aware of the criminal intentions of these individuals".
Denis Davydov, Sergey Kuzmenko, Elena Yakovleva, Evgeny Nikitenko in court
- As a result of deliberate overpricing and violation of the principles of fair price competition by fraudulent actions of the members of the organized group on nine government contracts stolen funds worth more than 1.1 billion rubles, - indicated in the IC.
Three defendants - Kuzmenko, Davydov and Nikitenko - were detained in April 2021. Initially they were assigned a measure of restraint in the form of detention, but later it was changed to house arrest. Yakovleva was detained later than the others, and the court chose a similar preventive measure for her. The defendants did not admit guilt, their property and the property of organizations controlled by them was seized for the full amount of the damage caused.
In 2023, the court found significant procedural violations in the case file and returned the case to the Prosecutor General's Office and then to the Investigative Committee for their elimination.
The defense of the defendants argued that all the funds were spent in a targeted manner, that is, for the conversion of civilian vehicles. According to the lawyers, the calculations of the investigation were wrong from the beginning, because the investigators took the cost of a basic patrol car, which is many times cheaper than the converted one, as a unit of calculation.
Sergei Kuzmenko received seven and a half years, Denis Davydov and Yevgeny Nikitenko - seven years each. Skoda representative Elena Yakovleva was sentenced to six years of general regime. They were also charged 1.1 billion rubles in favor of the Interior Ministry. They were given credit for time spent under house arrest at the rate of two days under house arrest for one day in the colony. The defense side told Izvestia that it would appeal the verdict.
Thorough conspiracy
Given the high -profilenature of the criminal case and the large scale of the embezzlement of budget funds, the verdict is likely to remain unchanged, according to lawyers interviewed by Izvestia. However, the appellate court has a wide range of powers with regard to the decision made by the court of first instance, recalled Ilya Drozdov of the Makeev and Partners law firm.
- The appeal may mitigate the punishment or even agree with the arguments of the lawyers that there is no corpus delicti in the actions of their clients," he said. - Especially since the defendants' lawyers insist that serious violations were committed during the expert examination, which affected the outcome of the case.
The lawyers draw attention to the fact that the appellate court in order to verify the evidence has the right to summon and question the expert to clarify or supplement the conclusion given by him in the first instance, as well as to appoint, including additional and repeated examination.
Conversion of a civilian car into a patrol car includes a number of technical and functional changes that increase its effectiveness in the performance of law enforcement tasks, said auto expert Yulia Miloslavskaya.
- First of all, it is external design, sound and light signaling, installation of radio communication, systems for operational information, access to databases and processing of information on offenses, - she said. - In addition, installation of video cameras and other monitoring systems to record incidents and collect evidence.
The costs of modifying mass-produced vehicles are much lower than the costs of producing specialized vehicles that meet the requirements of law enforcement agencies, Yulia Miloslavskaya said.
Another advantage of retrofitting civilian vehicles is the expansion of the range for specialized services. They can choose and retrofit vehicles depending on their tasks, not being limited to a narrow range of specialized vehicles. These factors allow for more efficient budget spending.
The right to parole under the article on fraud comes after serving three-fourths of the appointed term, reminded "Izvestia" lawyer of the MCA "Lobutev and Partners" Anna Malafeeva. Also, according to her, full compensation for damages and positive characterization of the prisoner by the administration of the colony are important.
- The scheme of overpricing is very common, especially when it comes to budget money," says Anna Malafeeva. - When participating in tenders, there may be collusion between two or more bidders. Formally, the conditions are met, the price is justified, and there are no grounds to recognize the tender as invalid. Thus, a group of persons wins, but at an inflated price.
Ilya Drozdov explained that it is not very difficult for people with relevant connections and powers to pull off such fraudulent schemes. The main task is to organize everything in such a way that the company, which is in collusion with the attackers, gets the right to execute the order.
- After that, they overestimate the cost of the work to be done and the materials to be purchased, and take the resulting difference for themselves," he added. - The more vehicles that need to be purchased and converted, the more difficult it is to detect theft. This requires special checks by the competent authorities.
Fraud refers to latent crimes, i.e. it is difficult for law enforcement agencies to uncover such schemes due to careful conspiracy, the lawyers emphasized.
