The prosecutor’s office requested four years and ten months in prison for the former deputy chairman of the board of the Siberian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (SBRD) Inessa Brandenburg. She is accused of stealing 561 million rubles. from the bank, which she confessed to and entered into a pre-trial agreement with the investigation. The defendant’s lawyer considers the requested sentence to be excessively harsh – other defendants in the case, including one of the organizers, were sentenced to a shorter term.
The debate of the parties in the criminal case of Inessa Brandenburg took place today in the Kalininsky District Court of Tyumen. The state prosecution, taking into account the concluded pre-trial agreement, requested four years and ten months in a general regime colony for the ex-top manager of the SBRR under paragraphs. “a”, “b” part 4 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (theft committed by an organized group, on an especially large scale). This was reported by the joint press service of the judicial system of the Tyumen region.
In addition, Inessa Brandenburg, together with previously convicted Igor Gorbonosov, Sergey Kuznetsov and Dmitry Manuilov, will have to return about 545 million rubles. Another 16 million rubles. of the amount of damage the defendants paid earlier.
Recall that a criminal case against the former deputy chairman of the BURR was initiated in 2018. She admitted her guilt. The investigation believes that the criminal scheme for the abduction of 561 million rubles. was developed by the chairman of the board and co-owner of the bank, Grigory Romanyuta, who expected the imminent revocation of the license and the bankruptcy of the SBRR.
In January 2018, Grigory Romanyuta and Inessa Brandenburg received money from the Ural State Central Bank of the Russian Federation under the pretext of an expected outflow of customers due to lower rates. The funds with which the cash desks of the RRDB were replenished, the woman took away from the store, putting office items in their place. Sergey Kuznetsov, according to the investigation, took out cash in nine sports bags.
Of the stolen money, about 350 million rubles. was taken not by a man identified by the investigation, but about 100 million rubles. received Inessa Brandenburg.
On the night of January 27, she flew to Moscow, and from there to Berlin. Grigory Romanyuta, who is still on the wanted list, also left the country. In September 2021, Inessa Brandenburg was detained in Spain, she was in the local pre-trial detention center until the end of July 2022, after which she was extradited to Russia.
The defendant’s lawyer Alexander Pashkevich considers the sentence requested by the state prosecution to be excessively harsh. “The maximum possible punishment for Brandenburg by agreement with the investigation is five years in prison. The prosecutor’s office asked for two months less. The state prosecution does not offer reasons for the decision, and there was no response to my fair remark in court, ”the lawyer said in a conversation with Kommersant-Ural.
He asked the court to focus on the uniformity of judicial practice and take into account, when choosing a punishment, the sentences that were previously handed down to other defendants in the case. So, the perpetrators were sentenced to three years in prison, and the organizer of the theft, Dmitry Manuilov, was sentenced to four years. At the same time, the latter was initially also assigned three years in prison, and the punishment was toughened after an appeal by the prosecutor’s office.
“Why did the male performers, the male organizer get less than a single mother with various diseases who was dragged into this business can get? In addition, there are no aggravating circumstances in the case,” Mr. Pashkevich noted.
According to the lawyer, Inessa Brandenburg is unlikely to be able to pay the entire amount of damage. However, she intends to gradually return the stolen amount at the expense of the salary that she will receive in the colony or at large, depending on the decision of the court. In the event that she reimburses the full amount of damages, she will have the right to file a lawsuit against Igor Gorbonosov, Sergey Kuznetsov and Dmitry Manuilov to recover part of these funds.
The last word of Inessa Brandenburg and the announcement of the verdict are scheduled for March 15.