Embezzlement of land plots and bribes. The case of the ex-mayor of Sochi Kopaigorodsky

A second criminal case has been opened against the former mayor of Sochi, Alexei Kopaigorodsky. His arrest has been extended until February 17. The wife of the former mayor Yanina was placed under house arrest. Initially they were accused of embezzlement of land plots in the amount of Br3.7 million, now another case of corruption has been initiated. They are also being checked for involvement in other crimes. What are the details of the criminal case of the official - in the material "Izvestia".

What Kopaigorodsky and his wife are accused of.

- The criminal case against former mayor Alexei Kopaigorodsky is initiated under the article on embezzlement or embezzlement on a particularly large scale (part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). It provides for punishment of up to 10 years of imprisonment. Kopaigorodsky is currently under arrest. His wife is on the same criminal case, she remains under house arrest.

- In 2022-2024, when he was mayor of Sochi, Kopaigorodsky illegally expanded the possessions of his house on Verkhovskaya Street in the Khostinsky district of the city. He took possession of two neighboring plots of 787 square meters each, which were in municipal ownership. Their cadastral value was about 3.7 million rubles.

- Initially, the plots were leased to an English teacher and a general practitioner, who had privileges to receive land for housing construction on a priority basis. They bought the plots for 2.5% of their cadastral value, i.e. for about 50 thousand rubles. Later the land was sold to Polina Chernyshenko, a lawyer of the Kopaigorodskikhs. She gave one of the plots to the ex-mayor's wife.

- The Kopaigorodskikhs' couple did not admit their guilt. The former mayor stated that he could not make decisions on the alienation of municipal property, as this issue is in the competence of the city council. Yanina Kopaigorodskaya stated that she was detained to put psychological pressure on her husband.

- At the end of 2024, a new criminal case was opened against the Kopaigorodskys. They are now suspected of receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale. The former mayor, with the mediation of his wife, allegedly received four studio apartments for creating good business conditions for a Sochi entrepreneur. The official's benefit amounted to 43 million rubles. According to the Interior Ministry, the episode took place in November 2023.

How the Kopaigorodskie case developed

- On May 14, 2024, Kopaigorodsky announced his intention to resign as mayor of Sochi. He explained his desire to move to another job. In September it became known that he went to the special operation zone. On September 25, he was detained in Lugansk in the location of the headquarters of the volunteer corps "Prince Vladimir". On the same day, Kopaygorodskyy was arrested by the Meshchanskyy court of Moscow.

- In October, the court seized movable and immovable property belonging to both Kopaygorodsky himself and his wife, mother and other affiliated persons. Security measures were imposed on elite cars, cash, bank accounts of legal entities, land plots and apartments in Krasnodar Krai and Leningrad Oblast. The total value of the seized property is 600 million rubles.

- In November, a criminal case was initiated against Yanina Kopaigorodskaya. She was summoned to Moscow from the location of the Prince Vladimir Corps, where she served as a senior staff officer. In the capital she was charged with the same charge of misappropriating two plots of land. Meshchansky court placed Kopaygorodskaya under house arrest.

- In December, Alexei Kopaygorodsky was transferred to the Kremlin Central detention center. His lawyer Ivan Mironov said that the new place of detention has harsher conditions, while his client is accused on the basis of falsified evidence.

What else Kopaigorodsky may be suspected of?

- In July 2024, after Kopaygorodsky resigned, a criminal case was opened against his former adviser Rodion Pishchur. He headed an organized criminal group consisting of officials of the Sochi administration, business representatives and affiliated persons. In addition to Pishchur, six other people were detained.

- The criminal case was initiated on the fact of corruption in the sphere of ritual services. Members of the organized crime group illegally sold places in cemeteries in Sochi. The cost of the plots ranged from 200 thousand to 3 million rubles. Every month the group earned from 10 to 15 million rubles through bribes.

- Immediately after Kopaigorodsky's arrest, it became known that businessman Robert Tatulyan, also known as criminal authority Robson, was put on the wanted list. In 2023, Tatulyan was searched in Sochi in a case of multi-billion dollar embezzlement in land use. The businessman was suspected of fraud in the construction of shopping centers and housing complexes. Tatulyan managed to escape, for this he could use a diplomatic passport issued by Abkhazia.

What is known about Kopaigorodsky

- Kopaigorodsky was born in 1985 in Krasnodar. There he graduated from a military school specializing in "Integrated protection of informatization objects". From 2003 to 2013, he served in the Russian Armed Forces, after which he moved to an administrative job in the Krasnodar region. He subsequently received two more higher education degrees in law and public administration.

- At different times, Kopaigorodsky held the positions of vice-mayor of Krasnodar, head of the Krasnodar region's internal policy department, and vice-governor for internal policy. In 2019, Kopaigorodsky was appointed acting mayor of Sochi and was soon elected to this position by the deputies of the city council.

- Under Kopaigorodsky, the construction of a highway bypassing Adler was launched in Sochi. It became part of a new highway running along the Black Sea coast. Also, the transition of the city's transportation to gas and electric vehicles began, digital passports for territorial public self-government were introduced, and a new master plan for Sochi was adopted. Residents remembered Kopaigorodsky for the fact that he personally called them to find out about the city's problems.