The trips of the ex-governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev with a driver, which the investigation considers bribes, cost businessman Boris Shpigel 167 thousand rubles.
The investigation failed to find out the exact amount of such events Belozertsev, however, the examination established it, based on the average cost of a VIP-class taxi ride, the correspondent reports. DOPs with reference to RIA News”.
The investigation believes that Belozertsev received a bribe of 20 million rubles from the head of the Biotek company, as well as a watch and a ride in a Mercedes car.
According to the official version of the Investigative Committee of Russia, from January to September 2020, Boris Shpigel transferred bribes to the governor of the Penza region. According to the investigation, in total, Mr. Belozertsev was given bribes totaling more than 31 million rubles. But last December, journalists “Kommersant” citing their informed source, they claimed that the episode with the Mercedes suddenly disappeared from the case. And instead of a minivan, a Mercedes S350d with a driver appeared in the materials, which cost about six million rubles, the investigation considered Belozertsev’s trip in another Mercedes car with a personal driver a bribe.
Aleksey Sergienko, the lawyer for the ex-governor, insists that the Mercedes episode is a falsification of evidence (Article 303 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and even turned to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov with a request to give a procedural assessment of what happened.
According to the investigating authorities, Belozertsev received bribes from Spiegel, his wife and director of Pharmacia Anton Koloskov for providing Biotek with competitive advantages in concluding state contracts for the acceptance and storage of medicines and various medical devices. The latter were purchased at public expense for the local health care system.
To date, the investigation of the corruption case in the Penza region continues, all the defendants in the case are in a pre-trial detention center. Ivan Belozertsev will be in jail until at least February 20.
Recall that on March 21, 2021, it became known about the detention of the governor of the Penza region, Ivan Belozertsev, on suspicion of taking a bribe. During searches in the house of an official, 360 million rubles in cash were found.
Last spring, Ivan Belozertsev admitted that he received 20 million rubles from businessman Boris Shpigel. The confession was made at a meeting of the Moscow City Court, which considered a complaint against the arrest of the former governor. The money, he said, was intended for the election campaign.
Recently, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a new criminal case against the ex-governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev. Now he is suspected of illegal purchase and storage of weapons and ammunition.
According to the information available to Kommersant, the reason for initiating a new case was a report by operatives from the GUEBiPK Ministry of Internal Affairs, who found cartridges and a Makarov pistol with a cut off number during searches in the Penza regional administration.
