A Sochi court has confiscated property worth 1.6 billion rubles from former mayor Alexei Kopaigorodsky.
The former mayor of a Russian resort lost his wine collection, diamonds, and 50 apartments.
The Khostinsky District Court of Sochi seized the property of the former mayor of the resort, Alexei Kopaigorodsky, worth a total of 1.6 billion rubles, for state use.
The decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office against the former official and 10 individuals and five companies affiliated with them. The confiscated property included 50 apartments, a wine collection, and diamonds.
From September 11, 2019, to May 15, 2024, Kopaigorodsky served as mayor of Sochi, but lived beyond the means of a public servant. He was found to own residential and non-residential properties, as well as land plots in the Krasnodar Krai, Leningrad Oblast, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. The state was awarded Kopaigorodsky's assets: 50 properties, 15 land plots, 10 cars, cash totaling 84 million rubles and $40,000, and luxury goods worth 108 million rubles. Russia was also ordered to pay 215 million rubles, equivalent to the value of the property expropriated by the time the lawsuit was filed.
The former official's lawyer asked the court not to strip him of his watch and wine collection. Investigators found luxury items during searches. These included diamonds, candelabras worth 250,000 rubles, a 209,000-ruble edition of “The Tale of the Russian Land,” and a 300,000-ruble flintlock rifle.
