How the shadow banker Sergei Magin was first released, and now they are unlikely to be found
The Moscow court arrested in absentia the so-called “king of cash” Sergei Magin.
A little earlier, he was put on the wanted list. And it’s not a fact that he will be able to return to his homeland and send him to jail: according to some reports, Magin is now abroad. But the most interesting thing is that Magin is far from the only one among the participants in large and high-profile criminal cases related to finances, who was at large. Someone very quickly served his sentence, and someone is easily released on leave from a correctional facility.
Sometimes you just want to ask a few exciting questions: do you believe in our justice? Don’t you think it works a little selectively? Isn’t it surprising that some defendants well-known throughout the country are quickly released, and then for some reason they start looking again? But these are not just questions, behind them are reports, which, among other things, come from official sources. And here is one of them.
Recently, in the capital of our Motherland, the court decided that Sergei Magin (he is also known as “Seryozha two percent”) should be in prison, and arrested him. In absentia, there was no defendant at the meeting. He, according to the media, lives in Israel. Here one could rejoice for the person who returned to the Promised Land, this is normal, it happens. There are just a few remarks left.
It is surprising how it sometimes happens: we can be imprisoned for many years for a minimal violation of the law. For example, the usual theft, the damage is several million. The term can be up to ten years. In Magin’s case, it’s a different story. He was once accused of creating a criminal community. And the amounts that appear in the messages are very impressive: cashing out for 122 billion, and there was also information about 170 billion withdrawn abroad. The budget of the defendants, apparently referring to their personal profit, is also close to a billion. The result – 8.5 years in prison.
But Sergey Magin was released from a colony in the Ryazan village of Stenkino back in 2019, having paid a fine of 200 thousand rubles. And now it turns out: there are still questions for him, he needs to be arrested, put on the wanted list. Probably, such a bright idea did not occur to the servants of the law before. By the way, Magin is not the only one to whom, after the trial and sentence, forgive the expression, “fate smiled.” He is in good company.
Sergey Magin, judging by the media, was the “king of the cash.” What does “cash out” mean? Well, for example, some company needs cash, and she does not want to inform the state about it. The scale may vary. Perhaps several hundred thousand it took some construction company, say, to pay cash to migrants. And, perhaps, a large company needed cash … Everything happens, business is business, including shadow business. You have to pay a fee for cashing out. This happens outside the law, but these are the realities. Even our Central Bank told how much it costs to cash out.
Two percent commission for cashing out, and we are guided by the data that appeared in the public plane – very little. But due to large volumes, judging by what is known, the business turns out to be profitable. By the way, does the phrase “two percent” remind you of anything? Either “Seryozha two percent”, then “Misha two percent” (meaning the nickname that once stuck to Mikhail Kasyanov when he was prime minister). It seems that there is something fateful in this. But let’s get closer to our days.
Here are the facts that are known from numerous publications. Sergei Magin, for the sake of his correction, well, that is, so that he becomes a decent person in our society, they decided to make an assembler of paper products. And, apparently, he did his job well. They write that Magin was polite in the colony, had no penalties, participated in social activities and attended cultural events. Why not let it go? And they let go. But why, all of a sudden, now they decided that there are questions about his activities? Changed your mind? Unknown.
And here is the story of another well-known Russian defendant – Denis Sugrobov, a former general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was he who once carried out a brilliant operation, as a result of which Magin ended up behind bars due to cash-out activities. True, Sugrobov himself also did not escape a similar fate. He was convicted for creating a criminal group, given 22 years of strict regime. Then they softened, and then completely released on parole from punishment.
Sugrobov once served a sentence in the same Ryazan region, where Magin also visited. There is a colony for former employees of law enforcement agencies. Sugrobov was imprisoned until the summer of this year, and he was arrested in 2014. If anyone remembers, the fate of his subordinate, Boris Kolesnikov, was somewhat different, he committed suicide.
Behind the turbulent events of recent times, other “heroes-siloviks” have been forgotten a little. Remember the high-profile story of the ex-FSB officer Kirill Cherkalin, who was found to have assets worth 12 billion rubles? At one time, he pleaded guilty, made a deal with the investigation, the lieutenant colonel was counted for the time spent in the pre-trial detention center and as a result was given only 7 years, although the prosecutor asked for 11. We use the word “total”, because compared to the terms of other senior officers, this is relative mild punishment.
And suddenly it becomes known: Cherkalin was allegedly recently seen in Moscow. And then very interesting information appeared in the telegram channels. The lieutenant colonel is serving his sentence not in a colony, but in a correctional center at the prison, works as a security guard at two enterprises (he obviously knows this profession). And this summer I got a vacation and spent almost the whole of July in the capital. Soon, perhaps, he will become practically a free person at all, at the end of this year he has the right to apply for parole. And if you’re lucky, the lieutenant colonel won’t have long to wait. However, let’s see.
Total that we have in the dry residue. The “King of Nanala,” who was released, probably lives in Israel. And even though our countries are “friends”, it is unlikely that he will be extradited. Let us recall at least a vivid example from history: the Jewish state once gave citizenship to the ex-shareholder of Yukos, Leonid Nevzlin **, this decision was recognized as legal and the extradition did not take place. Although our law enforcement agencies would very much like to see Leonid Borisovich in Russia. Like another “Borisovich”, but only by the name of Mikhail and with the surname Khodorkovsky*. But back to other well-known figures.
Who is definitely unlucky is the legendary colonel-billionaire of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dmitry Zakharchenko. He was given 16 years, and the Moscow City Court recently upheld the sentence. So, for now, sit and sit, unless, of course, something changes. In all these stories, sometimes the harshness, sometimes the unexpected gentleness of our justice, is surprising. Someone is easily released, and then, as if having realized it, they are put on the wanted list, although there is reason to believe that this will not be successful. Someone has already served his sentence, someone is serving it in relatively comfortable conditions.
Probably, this has its own logic, but, unfortunately, it is unknown to the general public. And one can only guess what feelings the same Zakharchenko feels when he learns about another case of a rather successful completion of high-profile criminal cases for the defendants. One can only hope that someday the public will know the details. The main thing is that whatever happens, as in the lines of Nikolai Nekrasov: “It’s a pity to live in this beautiful time …”.