Organized crime group of Dmitry Rybalko “milked” commerce for 8 years
An investigation into a judicial assembly line in the Rostov region led the Moscow security forces to a criminal community in the Don Central Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They started checking the police last year, but it was the testimony of the judges that “helped close the chain,” says a 161.RU source in law enforcement agencies /
The case and the suspects: the version of the investigation
IN criminal case, initiated by the main investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the federal district, more than 20 people appear, including employees of the regional head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Investigators call the leader of the criminal community Dmitry Rybalko – Deputy Chief of Police for Public Order. Other notable defendants in the case: Alexey Abakumov, Nikolay Shchitov, Sergey Lyapkin, Sergey Sungurtyan.
The suspects are charged with taking bribes, creating and participating in a criminal community. According to the preliminary version of the UK, the members of the group received money from businessmen in exchange for not being held accountable for violations. They paid for patronage from 3 to 50 thousand rubles – the money was given to Rybalko. For almost 8 years, the police could have received at least 25 million rubles – this is the preliminary version of the investigation.
85 searches were conducted at workplaces and in the homes of suspects.
Cleanup operation
The Investigative Committee reports that the criminal community has been uncovered thanks to joint work with the FSB and the Main Directorate of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Our source clarifies that Moscow FSB operatives were the first to unearth the scheme, and the testimony judges detained this April helped to unwind the ball.
– A major operation began in Moscow last year. Then the FSB contacted the employees of the operational-investigative unit of its own security (ORCh SB) from Rostov. Some of them, including deputy chief Yevgeny Kolesnikov, did not pass a polygraph, after which layoffs began in the ranks of the Rostov police, ”said our source in the authorities. – Later, according to the testimony of five fired employees, [московские] security forces came to the employees of the Donskoy separate battalion of traffic police, who were the first to be accused of extortion and taking bribes.
As a result of that investigation went to court 26 traffic police officers.
– After the Moscow opera came out on [вышестоящих сотрудников] Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Rostov Region. Naturally, questions were asked, interrogations were conducted, but [в деле] there was a lack of a link that helped the organized criminal group act with impunity,” the security official noted. “This is where the judiciary came into play. After the searches and arrests, many people spoke up.
According to him, the Rostov security forces conditionally call the operation of their Moscow colleagues “Purge”, given the scope of the investigation and the coverage of suspects.
— After the start of the conflict in Donbass [в 2014 году] Rostov police have launched a corruption scheme in almost every district department to export counterfeit products, says our source familiar with the investigation. – There was also singed vodka, and cigarettes, and protecting business in a neighboring state. Millions literally fell into the accounts of the Rostov policemen.
According to the Investigative Committee, “the criminal organization was created to commit corruption crimes in order to receive bribes for not bringing to justice persons engaged in trading activities in the consumer market on the territory of Rostov.” Our source clarifies that the scheme included employees of district police departments, traffic policemen.
source
— According to the testimony of the detainee [главы областного Совета судей] Roshchevsky and three district judges, the lists included the names of both high-ranking employees of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the heads of the district departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the traffic police.
What’s going on with the police right now?
– Security forces blocked bank cards of 19 people from the district police departments of Rostov – Sovetsky, Zheleznodorozhny and Kirovsky. More than 30 million rubles converted into foreign currency were found on the accounts, the source specified. “The opera, together with investigators, took 26 people for interrogation.
“The management team was caught before the start of the working day, even at home,” said one of the interlocutors of 1rnd. – In the OP, the personnel were “intercepted” right at the planning meetings – people dispersed to their workplaces already accompanied by witnesses.
At present, our interlocutors added, the issue of preventive measures is being resolved. Most likely, all detainees will be sent for the duration of the investigation to a pre-trial detention center in other regions of Russia in order to eliminate pressure on the investigation as much as possible.
The silovik clarified that the main suspect in the new criminal case, Dmitry Rybalko, planned to leave Russia – he booked a ticket when the detentions of judges began.
– He was warned, as it turned out, by people in the authorities of the Rostov region, but Rybalko did not believe that the long-term structure that brought such “golden eggs” would simply be covered up, – our interlocutor reports the version of the investigation. – When he was detained by the opera, he said, “Sit down, everyone.”
According to the preliminary version, Rybalko is involved in at least 28 fake criminal cases against entrepreneurs who interfered with police officers. Another suspect is a high-ranking officer of the 2nd Department for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee.
“They were not shy about starting fake criminal cases against persons who had a special legal status. These are lawyers, employees of the administration, the police. Mostly those who did not want to be in the “criminal system,” he says.
“They all worked together. First, “anti-dealers” came, wrote a statement – allegedly selling surrogate alcohol, counterfeit tobacco. Or they made a “test purchase” and called the police to the scene. Then the police came, turned the store inside out,” one of the editorial interlocutors described the scheme. – Then a civilian came and said: “I will provide you with legal services, neither the police nor the activists will touch you.”
The services of a “human rights activist” most often cost 20,000 rubles a month. The interlocutors of 1rnd added that the personal data of all “social activists” are at the disposal of the security forces. Now they are being processed. At the same time, the sources of the editorial office emphasized that it was necessary to confirm the belonging of the defendants to any structures.
– So far there is only evidence that they called themselves that – “anti-dealers” or lawyers for the protection of rights. It will be clear whether it is legal, – our interlocutor summed up.
Rostov resident Igor Omelchenko, who recently headed the Russian Antidealer movement, categorically rejected the possibility of his activists participating in such schemes in an interview with 1rnd. First of all, because there are not so many activists.
Aleksey Abakumov, head of OP-8 Rostov, testified against Rybalko. He was arrested for two months, a source told the editorial office.
The tangle is untied
According to a 161.RU source, the next defendants in the criminal cases may be employees of the ORCH SB – the own security of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Rostov Region. The day before, nine more court employees were detained – there are already 24 defendants in their case.
Our interlocutor added that a large-scale case could become a reason for personnel changes in the leadership of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But this will be decided in Moscow.