As it became known to Kommersant, Andrey Tulupov, the former head of the special projects property department (UISP) of the Ministry of Defense, received eight years in a strict regime colony for bribes and abuse of power. The crimes were committed by him during the purchase of medical equipment for the military department to fight the coronavirus. In connection with the confession of guilt, the case of Andrei Tulupov was considered by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow in a special order. In the same place, at the end of last year, also in a special order, one of the intermediaries in bribery was already convicted, and the case of the second is now being considered.
A criminal case on fraud in the supply of PCR tests and Chinese portable breathing machines Yuwell YH-730 to the Ministry of Defense was initiated by the Main Military Investigation Department of the TFR in September 2020 based on the materials of the FSB. Initially, it dealt only with fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in relation to UISP officials and merchants. It follows from the materials of the case that the purchase of medical equipment at deliberately inflated prices through the Singaporean company Golden Way Global Solution Ltd and the Vietnamese company Visterlo Traiding Company Limited was carried out by Business Support Center LLC, United Expert Company Amparo LLC, Business Support Center LLC “and LLC” Salus “.
They were assisted by a well-known fashion designer and fashion designer Ferutdin Zakirov. He was also charged with fraud.
According to Kommersant, the process against the fashion designer recently began in the Meshchansky District Court, but from there the case was transferred to the Basmanny District Court. Andrey Tulupov, the former head of the UISP, Denis Shulzhenko, general director of the Center for Business Support LLC, and his business partner Alexander Petrov were originally witnesses in this case and were repeatedly called as witnesses for interrogations.
It is worth noting that all three also hold high positions in the Judicial Expert Chamber of Russia. In particular, Denis Shulzhenko is its president, Alexander Petrov is its executive director, and Andrey Tulupov is a member of the presidium of the organization.
All three became defendants in the criminal case almost simultaneously, at the end of April 2021. The former head of the UISP, who by that time had retired and became an adviser to the new head of this structure, was charged with two episodes of taking bribes (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in the amount of 13 million rubles. and abuse of official powers (part 3 of article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). And Denis Shulzhenko and Alexander Petrov were charged with mediation in bribery (part 4 of article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the end of last year, the case of Denis Shulzhenko, who fully admitted his guilt, was considered in a special order by the Basmanny District Court, sentencing the defendant to four years in a strict regime colony (the case against Alexander Petrov is now being considered there). Shulzhenko’s lawyer declined to comment on the verdict.
The trial of another pre-trial judge, Andrei Tulupov, began in October last year. During the debate, the prosecutor requested eight and a half years of strict regime for him with a fine of 25 million rubles.
Judge Elena Lenskaya considered it possible to impose a sentence only six months less than requested by the public prosecutor, but without a fine. Andrei Tulupov’s lawyer did not discuss the act incriminated to his client and the court’s decision, noting only that the verdict would be appealed.
In November 2022, as part of the investigation of this case, Larisa Leontyeva, deputy director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Main Military Construction Directorate No. 4”, affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, Larisa Leontyeva, whose structure was another intermediary in relations between merchants and UISP Andrey Tulupov in the purchase of ventilators, was sent into custody. The woman is charged with embezzlement of almost 400 million rubles. According to investigators, the cost of each of the 350 Chinese Yuwell YH-730 portable breathing machines delivered to the Ministry of Defense hospitals, whose market value is about 100 thousand rubles, was allegedly overstated ten times.