By 13 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 30 million rubles. Aleksey Gorodov, a judge of the Arbitration Court of the Altai Territory, was sentenced on charges of corruption. According to investigators, he took bribes from an arbitration manager and an entrepreneur for making favorable decisions on bankruptcy cases, the total amount of remuneration amounted to about 5 million rubles. Speaking with the last word, the judge said that only an acquittal would suit him.
In Barnaul on Tuesday, the consideration of the criminal case of the judge of the Arbitration Court of the Altai Territory Alexei Gorodov, who was accused of bribery, ended. This was reported in the regional department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR).
In 2019, employees of the regional FSB received information about possible facts of corruption by arbitration judge Alexei Gorodov, who was appointed to this position in November 2009. With the consent of the qualification board of judges, the chairman of the ICR, Alexander Bastrykin, initiated a criminal case against Alexei Gorodov, while the powers of the judge were suspended for the duration of the investigation.
According to law enforcement officers, the judge received bribes from the arbitration manager for making the decisions he needed in bankruptcy cases.
Each of the four solutions cost 500 thousand rubles. The investigation also considered it a bribe to sell a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado to the judge at a low price, which allowed him to save 360,000 rubles.
In addition, the security forces established that the judge received 2.5 million rubles from one businessman. for refusing to satisfy the application of bankruptcy trustees who appealed against the compensation agreement on real estate objects. The materials of the criminal case include six episodes, the total amount of bribes that were transferred to the arbitration judge in 2010-2017 amounted to about 4.9 million rubles.
The suspect was not arrested. Because the sanction of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on a bribe, in addition to imprisonment, also provides for a fine, at the request of the investigation, the court imposed a security arrest on the property of a judge with a total value of about 10 million rubles – a two-story cottage, three land plots (585, 940 and 1.05 thousand sq. m. ), Nissan Sunny, a trailer, a motor boat, a collection of weapons, more than 300 thousand rubles. and $8,000 in cash.
In the spring of 2021, a trial began against Alexei Gorodov, which dragged on for almost two years. In the debate of the parties, the prosecutor‘s office demanded 15 years in prison for the accused and a fine of 35 million rubles, the defense and the judge himself asked for an acquittal.
“There is procedural terrorism in this criminal case. For three years, confessions were squeezed out of me so that I confessed to something that, in principle, does not exist, ”the judge said in his last word, noting that he had always worked honestly.
On Tuesday, the verdict was handed down in the case. Alexey Gorodov came to the final meeting with a trunk with things and a thermos bag for groceries. The judge, who celebrated his 45th birthday yesterday, was sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 30 million rubles. In addition, for ten years after his release, he is prohibited from holding positions in public authorities. The court also confiscated funds corresponding to the amount of bribes to the state, the prosecutor’s office of the Altai Territory said. After the entry into force of the verdict, the powers of Judge Gorodov will be terminated.
In 2020, two former judges of the same court, Vladislav Kolesnikov and Ruslan Terry, were sentenced. The first was accused of taking a bribe in the amount of 800 thousand rubles. for a decision in favor of an agricultural firm that challenged in arbitration the additional charge of taxes to it, the second – in mediation in bribery. They received seven years in prison.
