Pasta “gambit”, or corruption road leads to Yurevich
For all the corruption bacchanalia in the Chelyabinsk region under Mikhail Yurevich, will one Vadim Belousov take the rap?
The court found the current State Duma deputy from Udmurtia, Kirov and Tambov regions (Faction “A Just Russia – For the Truth”) Vadim Belousov guilty of taking a huge bribe in the amount of 3.25 billion rubles.
This is a record amount that Mr. Belousov could receive together with alleged accomplices, among whom his mother-in-law Margarita Butakova appears, and most importantly, Belousov’s long-term ally, former deputy of the Chelyabinsk region Mikhail Yurevich.
It was the latter that could be a key link in the corruption schemes attributed to Belousov. However, the trace of Yurevich has long since disappeared – back in 2017, when clouds began to gather over him, he suddenly ended up undergoing treatment abroad, from where he never returned.
About the background of a high-profile story – in the material of the correspondent The Moscow Post in the Chelyabinsk region.
The verdict to Mr. Belousov will be announced for several days – the volume of the materials of the criminal case is too large. Recall that Vadim Belousov was accused of taking bribes for more than 3 billion rubles for general patronage in the distribution of state orders for the maintenance, repair and construction of roads.
Period of crimes: from 2011 to 2014, when Vadim Belousov was a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region. Mikhail Yurevich, whom the investigation considers the organizer of the group, at that time served as governor of the Chelyabinsk region.
According to investigators, Vadim Belousov and his mother-in-law Margarita Butakova, together with Yurevich and other persons, received bribes from the Yuzhuralvtoban holding for general patronage in the distribution of state orders for the maintenance, repair and construction of roads. At the same time, the transfer of money took place both in Chelyabinsk and in the capital of Russia.
The case was opened in 2017. And in 2018, Belousov’s colleagues in the State Duma stripped him of his parliamentary immunity at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. If the deputy wanted to swindle due to his status, then it did not work out.
The position of A Just Russia – For Truth and its co-chairman Sergei Mironov, who, for some reason, were not at all embarrassed by the fact that a criminal case is being investigated against their colleague and he is deprived of immunity, is surprising. Indeed, in 2020, the party calmly supported the nomination of Belousov, and he again became the people’s choice.
Were other prominent party members of Belousov involved in dubious schemes? The option is not ruled out in which Belousov and Yurevich could use the party to lobby their interests before law enforcement officers. And again, it didn’t work.
Vadim Belousov (left) in the courthouse. Photo: 74.ru
It looks even wilder that Vadim Belousov, already under investigation in the case of a record bribe, did not hesitate to declare his candidacy for the post of head of Udmurtia at the end of June 2022. Was he really so confident in his abilities even while under investigation?
Yurevich’s trail is gone
Meanwhile, the investigation considers the ex-governor of the Chelyabinsk region Mikhail Yurevich to be the key person in the criminal group. They have long-standing ties with Belousov. But law enforcement officers failed to get to Yurevich – he flew abroad. And with him, many of the assets attributed to him.
Recall that the ex-head of the Chelyabinsk region is suspected of even greater misconduct than his colleague Belousov. Namely, inciting to slander the former chairman of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court Fyodor Vyatkin, taking a bribe in the amount of 3.4 billion from road construction contractors (the same case of Belousov), withdrawing 1 billion rubles from the construction of a road junction on Brothers Kashirin Street in Chelyabinsk, receiving a bribe 27 million rubles from the ex-minister of health of the region Vitaly Teslenko. About this writes “Ura.ru”.
Yurevich was the governor of the Chelyabinsk region from 2010 to 2014. In the same period (until 2011), Belousov worked in the Legislative Assembly of the region. However, in 2014, Yurevich resigned of his own free will. As evil tongues claimed, clouds were gathering over him, and he allegedly decided to change his place of residence.
However, the case was opened only in 2017. Rumor has it that the connections of both Yurevich and Vadim Belousov, who since 2011 became a State Duma deputy from A Just Russia, played a role. Apparently, Yurevich until the very last hoped that he would not have to leave the Russian Federation.
Are possible machinations with road repairs just the tip of the iceberg of corruption bacchanalia in the Chelyabinsk region under Mikhail Yurevich? Photo: TASS / Petr Kovalev
After the initiation of the case, he did not appear for interrogation, and it soon became clear that he was outside Russia, as if in Israel. Yurevich was put on the international wanted list, while Borisov remained in the country and had to face trial.
Withdrawal of assets
At the same time, back in August 2017, rumors spread that Mikhail Yurevich was trying to withdraw the assets attributed to him abroad. According to the authors of the Rosotkat website, Yurevich began preparing for the withdrawal even earlier.
In April 2017, Rantip Invest Limited appeared in Cyprus. Later, in March, two more structures Laplus Invest Limited and Trescode Limited were registered at the same address. Judging by the same address, they must have had the same director, perhaps a figurehead.
What about Yurevich? It is believed that the latter had a huge business empire, which he could register for his elderly parents – Valery Yurevich, a pensioner born in 1941, who worked all his life as a builder, and teacher Natalya Yurevich, a pensioner born in 1942. A classic of the genre for Russian officials.
One of the key assets of the Yurevichs was the notorious firm Makfa. Previously, it was Vadim Belousov who was the general director of her “manager”, OOO UK Makfa. And so, after initiating a criminal case against Mr. Yurevich, his father, Valery Yurevich, suddenly began selling assets in favor of the above-mentioned offshore companies from Cyprus.
Among others, Makfa was also taken offshore. The Rantip Invest Limited mentioned above became its owner, behind which, with a high degree of probability, is the former Chelyabinsk governor himself.
In addition, Rodnik LLC (through Melon LLC), Otelstroy LLC (through Rodnik and Melon), Prospekt LLC, Shkolnik LLC were taken offshore. The Yurevich family was related to all these companies to one degree or another.
Moreover, many of them were literally pumped up with money from government contracts. Therefore, it can be assumed that along with the right of ownership there, abroad, not only taxes, but also a significant part of the profits of the structures could flow away.
For example, Otelstroy LLC, which is still operating today, has more than 10 million rubles under government contracts, as well as a hefty revenue for 2021 in the amount of 210 million rubles. At the same time, the value of the company’s net assets is estimated at minus 1.7 billion rubles. Where’s the money?
In Otelstroy LLC, which replaced a number of offshore owners, which was attributed to the Yureviches, signs of a possible withdrawal of money could be observed. A photo: Rusprofile.en
By the way, one of the co-founders of Otelstroy LLC was previously JSC First Khlebokombinat, to the work of which the Yurevichi should also have been directly related. Vadim Belousov’s mother-in-law, Margarita Butakova (she was mentioned at the beginning), worked as a chief accountant at this enterprise until this whole story. The office itself today has both government contracts and a net profit of 740 million rubles with a revenue of more than 5 billion rubles.
By the way, about the withdrawal of assets offshore. “All the actions that have been taken are aimed at improving the ownership structure and protecting the OJSC from possible unfriendly actions,” said an official representative of Makfa. His words are quoted by Ura.ru.
What are these possible “unfriendly actions”? Let’s translate it into understandable language: apparently, the beneficiaries of the assets (Yurevichi?) were afraid of the imposition of interim measures and freezing of accounts against the background of the criminal case of the ex-governor.
At the same time, the former official did not manage to hide everything. Back in the summer of 2017, the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk granted the request of the TFR to seize his property and accounts “in order to ensure the execution of the sentence on the recovery of a fine and confiscation of property.”
We are talking about eight real estate objects and eight accounts for a total amount of about 3 billion rubles. At the same time, the defense of the ex-governor insisted that the same property had been arrested earlier by the Leninsky Court.
Without going into procedural details, let’s ask ourselves a question – where did the Russian official get property for 3 billion rubles? And how much of it is real, if we assume that Yurevich really stood behind the assets transferred to the Cypriot offshore?
Belousov will answer for everyone?
It seems that Belousov will really have to “take the rap” for the Yureviches – although the guilt of the former head of the Chelyabinsk region also still needs to be proven. Yes, and Belousov himself, there is no doubt, will appeal the verdict.
Interestingly, Yurevich and Belousov met in the mid-90s. The future governor was engaged in business: first he opened a company for the wholesale trade in products, then he headed Bakery No. 1, the same one where, many years later, the mother-in-law of Vadim Belousov would be employed as the chief accountant.
Based on the reconstruction of the bakery, Yurevich created the Makfa agro-industrial association, which included several enterprises. Mikhail Yurevich himself became chairman of the board of directors. After a while, Vadim Belousov became the CEO of the company.
Mikhail Yurevich (left) deftly left the country, but Vadim Belousov did not have time … Photo: chel.pro
And then it went like clockwork. Yurevich made a dizzying political career, pulling up an old acquaintance with him. And when he became governor, he turned around to the fullest. Apparently, at some point he tried to “bite off” too large a piece, which he could not swallow. So I had to retire, but Belousov did not have time to leave for treatment or rest.
Now he, with a high degree of probability, will be treated and rest in places not so remote. However, the court decision pleading guilty has not yet entered into force.
