Dutch lawyer washes Vyacheslav Sheyanov
As part of the case of embezzlement of 330 million rubles. Russian Railways put a businessman on the wanted list Vyacheslav Sheyanovbut Interpol, at the request of his lawyer, suspended the search, Kommersant reports with reference to the Interpol notification.
Sheyanov’s personal data in the Interpol database is blocked for the period while the file control commission examines the arguments of the entrepreneur’s lawyer. She will decide either to completely stop the search or to resume it.
Sheyanov was put on the wanted list a year and a half ago, in October 2022, after being arrested in absentia by decision of the Meshchansky Court of Moscow.
Two more persons involved in the case are the ex-head of the FPC Mikhail Akulov and the general director of Sverdlovsk Railway Mekhlanchaya LLC (Sverdlovsk Railway; the company was engaged in washing bed linen used on Russian Railways trains) Andrey Voronin. According to investigators, Sheyanov, who was the beneficiary of the Laundromat, was the organizer of this criminal group. In the period from 2008 to 2016, they stole 330.5 million rubles, using Akulov’s official position.
As part of the scheme for appropriating funds, FPC and Mekhlacherchnaya, which was the largest contractor of Russian Railways, entered into agreements for the provision of services (in 2010) and investment (in 2012). Under the first agreement, Sheyanov’s company received “increased income” illegally, since its prices were 5% higher than those offered by other contractors; according to the second, a new laundry was supposed to appear in Yekaterinburg, but it was not built, the investigation claims. 300 million rubles allocated for the project. were kidnapped.
In January, the prosecutor’s office refused to approve the indictment in this case and returned it to investigators. Shortly before this, Akulov and Voronin, who were previously in pre-trial detention, were transferred to house arrest.
According to Kommersant, the defense of the defendants in December appealed to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) Igor Krasnov with a petition in which she insisted on the inconsistency of the charges. In particular, the document indicated that, according to the investigation, the criminal intent to steal funds allocated by the FPC from the defendants arose in 2008, although Mr. Akulov at that time did not yet have the authority to dispose of this money. In addition, the defense pointed out, the investigation did not properly assess the fact that the company that ordered the work was provided with guarantees in an amount exceeding the amount of the construction contract, as well as the settlement agreements between the management of FPC, which replaced Mr. Akulov, and LLC “Mekhlacherchnaya SvZhD”, in which it is indicated that the latter has fulfilled its obligations under the contract. The petition also states that the LLC invested its personal funds in the construction project, but this, according to the defense, was not taken into account by the investigation.
The Dutch lawyer of Mr. Sheyanov, in his appeal to Interpol, argued that the materials of the criminal case contradict the charter of this police organization. He, like his Russian colleagues, brought up the argument in favor of the businessman that the investigation materials do not contain real damage, the infliction of which is a necessary condition for the criminal prosecution of a person for economic crimes. In this case, FPC took advantage of the bank guarantees provided to it by Mr. Sheyanov and returned its funds.
The Dutch lawyer of Mr. Sheyanov, in his appeal to Interpol, argued that the materials of the criminal case contradict the charter of this police organization. He, like his Russian colleagues, brought up the argument in favor of the businessman that the investigation materials do not contain real damage, the infliction of which is a necessary condition for the criminal prosecution of a person for economic crimes. In this case, FPC took advantage of the bank guarantees provided to it by Mr. Sheyanov and returned its funds.