Five more judges became defendants, searches took place in four more district courts, and the arrested head of the Department of the Judicial Department of the Rostov Region testifies in Moscow. The main thing about the large-scale anti-corruption investigation.
April 4 Zolotareva resigned of her own free will, and she was placed under House arrest for two months. On April 5, Moscow operatives searched the homes of several more Rostov judges. Now the list of suspects includes 32 names, including not only members of the judiciary, but also officials.
161.ru, 04/04/2023, “Chairman of the Rostov Regional Court Arrested”: The chairman of the Rostov Regional Court, Elena Zolotareva, has been arrested, a source in law enforcement agencies told a 161.RU correspondent. According to him, the head of the regional court was sent under house arrest in a criminal case on corruption in the judicial system.
“The court took into account mitigating circumstances — the deteriorating health of the suspect and consent to cooperate with the security forces,” he said. – House arrest is determined until June 4. According to the source, the investigator and the security forces of the capital petitioned for house arrest. — Inset K.ru
161.ru, 04/04/2023, “Chairman of the Rostov Regional Court resigned amid a criminal case – source”: According to a 161.RU source in law enforcement agencies, this decision was prompted by a criminal case on corruption.
— After investigative actions, where searches were carried out as part of an initiated criminal case against [зампредседателя областного Совета судей] Tatyana Yurova, Zolotareva offered a deal. She may still be paid if a criminal case is not initiated. The terms of the deal are quite favorable – several criminal cases are at stake, – our interlocutor said.
According to the source, this does not mean that Zolotareva will definitely “be released from possible punishment.” The Moscow security forces took to the capital the chairman of the regional council of judges, along with the head of the judicial department. Several other defendants in the criminal case are still in Rostov. They testify. — Inset K.ru
According to the Moscow security officials, in the Rostov region there was a real assembly line for issuing the necessary court decisions. Seven criminal cases were initiated, several articles appear: “Fraud”, “Taking a bribe”, “Abuse of authority”.
“Kommersant”, 04/06/2023, “Rostov judges are also on trial”: According to a Kommersant source in power structures, Rostov judges were suspected of taking bribes and fraud (Articles 290 and 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The FSB, which monitored the defendants in the criminal cases, found that for remuneration they changed the preventive measures to those not related to detention, light sentences were handed down, as well as the necessary decisions in civil cases.
Intermediaries in obtaining illegal remuneration from clients were lawyers and employees of the judicial department, which ensures the work of the courts. In the Rostov Regional Court, Kommersant was told that they knew nothing about the special operation. — Inset K.ru
According to the interlocutor of 161.RU in law enforcement agencies, Roschevsky is considered a participant in a scheme for forging court materials to make “ordered” decisions. The head of the judicial department of the region began to testify.
– According to Roschevsky’s preliminary testimony, the scheme was headed by Zolotareva. It was she who “named the amounts and gave the go-ahead,” our source retells the version of the investigation. – Roschevsky himself attracted employees of the district prosecutor’s office. <...> The so-called “invitations” were needed for an objective assessment during the meetings.
Roschevsky pointed out that the chairman of the regional court “sometimes even openly opposed such decisions in order to create the appearance of defending the defendants.”
So far, under the magnifying glass of investigators – 32 names. But procedural decisions were made only on 14 suspects. According to the source, the Moscow security forces do not disclose the names, because many of the defendants agree to cooperate.
– In the near future there will be arrests of several more judges. During the searches, investigators found a number of documents confirming the attitude of several officials to the developed corruption scheme, the security official added. – Among them there are representatives of the prosecutorial system of the Rostov region.
161.ru, 04/05/2023, “Conveyor of “necessary” decisions: 32 Rostov judges and officials fell under suspicion of the FSB”: According to the silovik, the FSB officers have embarked on a corruption scheme involving not only members of the judiciary, but also officials.
– Searches were held in the Oktyabrsky, Zheleznodorozhny, Kirov and Soviet courts in Rostov. Conducted searches in the courts of the region. Under the gun – the Volgodonsk region, Shakhty, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky City Court, – our source noted. According to him, employees of the regional court are checking bank accounts.
– Many are afraid and immediately ready to testify. Mainly against Yurova and Zolotareva. As it turned out from the testimony of two defendants in the criminal case, Yurova kept “all regional courts in fear.” Yurova herself coordinated everything with Zolotareva,” the security official retells the preliminary version of the FSB.
Andrey Roschevsky, head of the Judicial Department, testified. The interlocutor of the editorial office claims that he controlled the course of several corruption cases in the Leninsky and Kirovsky district courts. — Inset K.ru
What else is known?
Highest Qualification Board of Judges of Russia accepted the resignation Chairman of the Rostov Regional Court Elena Zolotareva. Powers terminated on April 7th.
– The resignation was accepted on April 4, but it was not announced on the agenda. There is no deprivation of status yet. Official information will be posted a little later, – the correspondent of 161.RU was told in the VKKS.
64-year-old Zolotareva worked half her life in the courts of the Rostov region and since 2015 has headed the regional court. Since 1995, Zolotareva has been a member of the Presidium of the Rostov Regional Court, since 2012 – a member of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation.
According to the editorial source, due to the special procedure for initiating criminal cases against judges, Moscow operatives are forced to wait and comply with formalities that “slow down the process.” According to him, the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Rostov region is actively helping Muscovites.
– An interesting point is that the operatives got on the trail of several lawyers who closely cooperated with the regional court. As it turned out, these are Andrey Roshevsky’s former colleagues in the prosecutor’s office. It was they who negotiated with clients about the “amount of freedom,” the source said.
“Now they are also being checked, but there is no talk of detention yet”
source 161.RU
According to him, the earliest documents in the case date back to 1993.
Speaking of possible replacements for suspects, the security forces are pointing to Moscow, where, given the scale of the corruption scheme, they now look with distrust at local, even honored judges. He believes that there will be no appointments in the near future and acting duties will remain in key positions in the system.
The Investigative Committee of the Rostov Region and the FSB have not commented on the situation since the beginning of the searches.
rostovgazeta.ru, 04/06/2023, “Incomes of judges involved in the scandal in the Rostov region named”: As for Zolotareva, in 2021 she earned five million rubles, and also declared an apartment of 75 square meters and a garage of 30 square meters. But she didn’t own a car. In 2020, her annual earnings reached 5.1 million rubles, in 2019 – 5.4 million. And in 2018, she declared 6.3 million. All these years she owned an apartment and a garage, but in 2015 she also indicated a BMW X1 car.
The declaration of Tatyana Yurova could not be found. But as the Joint Press Service of the Courts explained to a RostovGazeta correspondent, the declarations are placed with the consent of the submitters.
There was also unconfirmed information from the media that Andrei Roschevsky, head of the Judicial Department, was involved in this scandal. In 2021, he earned 1.5 million rubles, and from the property he had a BMW X3 car and an apartment of 117 square meters in shared ownership with his wife. — Inset K.ru
