“Thief” ex-siloviki Chulichkov, Busylko and Vostretsov will remain prisoners
In the Sverdlovsk region, the court of first instance minimally reviewed the criminal case against the former first deputy head of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) Mikhail Busylkoregional deputy prosecutor Dmitry Chulichkovas well as ex-investigator of the Investigative Committee and lawyer Vladislav Vostretsova. Previously, the Court of Cassation, which is headed by Sergey Minin – long-time colleague, boss, comrade-in-arms and fellow countryman of Dmitry Chulichkov’s father, Vladimir Chulichkov– overturned their conviction in the bribery case.
This connection between Chulichkov Sr. and Minin was described in detail by the editors of Kompromat-Ural, after which competent observers made predictions as to whether the defendants’ influential and interested patrons would be able to “break” the first instance at the second go. If they tried, they failed: the long-term prison sentences of the corrupt officials were symbolically reduced by only a few months.
According to court materials, in 2019, businessman Vitaly Trukhin turned to lawyer Vostretsov, who previously headed the ICR department in Verkhnyaya Pyshma with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The entrepreneur was interested in resuming the criminal case regarding real estate fraud of his enterprise JSC BMZ. The lawyer undertook, for 4 million rubles, to solve the problems “turnkey” with sending the case to court, for which he used his connections in the leadership of the regional Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee in the person of the first deputy head of the department, Colonel Busylko. He agreed to participate in the scheme for 2 million rubles. At the end of the summer, Vostretsov received the first tranche of 1 million rubles, which was transferred by Busylko. In turn, the colonel agreed with Deputy Prosecutor Chulichkov to cancel the resolution to terminate the criminal case of fraud for 500 thousand rubles. The deputy prosecutor received this money from Busylko through Vostretsov, and handed over the corresponding procedural document as confirmation.
At the end of November 2019, Vostretsov and Busylko were detained in Yekaterinburg by FSB officers as part of an operational experiment while receiving a second tranche of 1 million rubles from Trukhin. By court decision, both defendants were placed under house arrest. A month later, Busylko was relieved of his post by presidential decree. In December of the same year, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) initiated an investigation against Chulichkov, who was suspended from official duties and then resigned from his position.
During searches at the workplaces and places of residence of Busylko and Chulichkov, half a million rubles were discovered and seized from each, which, according to the investigation, they received as a bribe through the intermediary Vostretsov for fulfilling previously reached agreements.
Busylko and Chulichkov were charged with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)). Vostretsov – mediation in bribery and attempted fraud (part 4 of article 291.1, part 3 of article 30, part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)). The investigation concluded that the lawyer deliberately misled Trukhin about the amount of the required bribe, and planned to keep 2 million of the agreed total amount for himself.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.
In August 2021, the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced Busylko, Chulichkov and Vystretsov to 8.5 years, 9 years and 9.5 years in a maximum security colony, respectively. All three were stripped of their special titles.
In appeals, the convicts and the defense insisted on an acquittal, and the prosecutor’s office asked to impose additional penalties in the form of fines.
Sverdlovsk regional court changed verdict against Vostretsov, excluding attempted fraud. “The fact of transferring a bribe to its recipient in a smaller amount cannot be regarded as theft and additional qualifications under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) does not require it,” the appellate instance indicated. Thus, the lawyer began to be considered convicted only under Part 4 of Art. 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) with a punishment of 7.5 years in a maximum security colony and deprivation of a special rank. Regarding the accomplices, the sentence was left unchanged.
The Seventh Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction overturned the conviction due to a significant violation of the criminal law and sent the case for a new trial.
The Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sentenced Busylko to 8 years, Chulichkova to 8 years and 4 months, and Vostretsova to 8 years and 7 months to a maximum security colony, the court’s press service told LR. Also, all convicts are deprived of special titles and the right to hold positions in the civil service for certain periods.
According to data from open sources, Busylko began his career as an investigator at the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chkalovsky District of Yekaterinburg, was a senior investigator at the Prosecutor’s Office of the Sverdlovsk Region and an investigator for particularly important cases at the State Prosecutor’s Office in the Urals Federal District. He has worked in the Investigative Committee since 2007.
Chulichkov graduated from the Ural State Law Academy. In 1998, he began working in the prosecutor’s office as an investigator, then became a senior investigator at the Chkalovsky District Prosecutor’s Office of Yekaterinburg, and a senior investigator at the Yekaterinburg Prosecutor’s Office. Since 2002, he served as deputy prosecutor of Verkhnyaya Pyshma. In 2005, he headed the prosecutor’s office of Verkhnyaya Pyshma. In 2011, he took the position of deputy prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk region.
Vostretsov has worked in the prosecutor’s office since 2002, after serving in the army. He began his career as an investigator in the prosecutor’s office of the Ordzhonikidze district of the Sverdlovsk region. Then he worked as an investigator in the department for investigating particularly important cases of the prosecutor’s office of the Sverdlovsk region. In 2007, he headed the Verkhnepyshminsky interdistrict investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Sverdlovsk Region.
After leaving the authorities, he took up the legal profession, receiving a certificate from the Chamber of Lawyers of the Vladimir Region.
