Artem Kalte was holed up in Bolivia, imprisoned in his homeland
A former operative from the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs received 5.5 years for cashing out 25.7 million rubles stolen from Energostream. as part of the OPS Yuri Zhelyabovsky
Original of this material
© utro-news.ru11/13/2023, At Energostream to prison
Gennady Kuznetsov
[…] The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow handed down a verdict Artem Kaltea former employee of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for participation in organized crime community and illegal cashing of 25.7 million rubles stolen from the Energostream company. The prosecutor demanded 11 years in prison, but the court sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison, a MorningNews correspondent reports citing Kommersant.
Artem Kalte was accused of major fraud and participation in a criminal group using his official position. The prosecutor proposed to find him guilty and impose a sentence of 11 years in prison and a fine of 1 million rubles.
The state prosecution also wanted to satisfy the claim of energy companies affected by Kalte’s actions. In 2011, the investigative department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case against Kalte for illegal banking activities. At that moment, the defendants were the leaders of the Energostream holding and its regional energy sales companies.
“Kommersant”, 11/13/2023, “The ex-operative’s repentance halved his sentence”: Operational support for the holding was provided by Yekaterinburg LLC Legard, which, as stated in the investigation materials, under the guise of regulating the work of marketers in the electricity market (it was called “a set of measures to reduce losses arising from deviations of actual electricity consumption from the planned one”) received hundreds of millions rubles All these funds, according to police investigators, were almost immediately transferred to third-party companies under phony contracts. In this, the state prosecutor argued at the trial, the swindlers were also helped by a former employee of the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kalte. — Insert K.ru
At first he was a witness in the case, but in the summer of 2013 his legal status changed when he was charged with serious fraud and the court decided to arrest him.
Artem Kalte admitted that he was guilty and was released under house arrest, but he escaped and spent seven years in Bolivia, hiding from justice. However, in 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) requested his extradition, and after lengthy trials, he was brought home.
The main argument of lawyer Vera Safonova in defense of Artem Kalte was that he admitted his guilt and repented of his actions. The defense hoped that the court, when determining the punishment, would take into account the time that Kalte had already spent in the pre-trial detention center.
According to the prosecution, from 2008 to 2012, top managers of Energostream Yuri Zhelyabovsky, Tatiana Muromtseva and Tatiana Bondareva, as well as Artem Kalte, together with Roman Mikhalchenko and Denis Vashchenko, stole 2.9 billion rubles from energy sales organizations. However, Kalte was accused of participating in the theft of only a smaller amount – about 25 million rubles with participation in various sales companies.
“Kommersant”, 03.30.2023, “OPS is prescribed in the capital”: A criminal case of fraud against former employee of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Artem Kalte was transferred from Kursk to Moscow for consideration. […] With the participation of Artem Kalte, according to the investigation, from January to June 2012, funds from Bryanskenergosbyt OJSC, Kurskregionenergosbyt OJSC, Smolenskenergosbyt OJSC and other sales companies in the amount of more than 25 million rubles were stolen. […]
As the United Press Service of the Judicial System of the Kursk Region told Kommersant, the decision to transfer the case of Artem Kalte to the capital is explained by the fact that his active criminal actions involving participation in a criminal community were committed in Moscow, at 36 Kutuzovsky Prospekt.
Kommersant’s sources in law enforcement agencies familiar with the case materials clarified that we are talking about the office of the IT company “UK Priority”, which, according to the investigation, was controlled by Yuri Zhelyabovsky, Tatyana Muromtseva and Tatyana Bondareva and which was involved in managing other legal entities. — Insert K.ru
The participants in the Artem Kalte case were given a real sentence, but significantly less than what was required by the prosecutor – five years and six months in a general regime colony without a fine. The claims of the victim organizations were transferred to civil proceedings.
The Dorogomilovsky Court of Moscow has already sentenced Roman Mikhalchenko and Denis Vashchenko, who participated in cashing out the funds – they have been sentenced to 10 years in a general regime colony. The investigation into the case of the fugitive top managers of Energostream and their accomplices is still ongoing.
