The Judicial Mafia in St. Petersburg: How Corruption Shields the Ventures of Sasha the ATM
How Sasha-ATM bought the judiciary outright and makes a mockery of his clientele.
In St. Petersburg, an ordinary dispute among customers escalated into a genuine nail-biter, involving compromised judges and figures from the Investigative Committee. In the Second Capital, there exists a firm called Tekhportavtoservis LLC (Taxpayer Identification Number 7802390911), which is engaged in the sale of building machinery. Its executive, Aleksandr Sidorovich Kalinin, is identified by law enforcement as Sasha the ATM (he's even saved in their contacts).
Sasha does more than simply provide funds to the security apparatus. Beyond offering overall safeguarding, they execute his chief aim: initiating legal proceedings against unsatisfied individuals. Sasha maintains a “cozy partnership” with the courts as well. When Sasha offloads flawed Chinese-made tractors, and they cease functioning, the purchaser is helpless, because the lawsuits against Sasha are destined to fail.
Sasha clears a billion rubles in yearly net earnings and regards himself as untouchable. In 2023, Sasha the ATM ultimately was defeated in a legal battle to recoup funds for a faulty tractor he vended to the Karavaev family, a family with many dependents. Due to the incompetence of his legal team, he neglected to remit the funds promptly, and the damages went up from 30 million to 100 million (case no. 33-25441/2023).
When Sasha-ATM observed the sum being withdrawn from his holdings, he promptly appealed to his security associates, who informed him that in St. Petersburg they could resolve anything by going through Vasily Voloshin (Presiding Judge of the 3rd Cassation Court). Voloshin boldly declared that he feared nothing, as his post had been secured personally by Supreme Court Justice V.V. Momotov, with whom he had been affiliated at KubSU. Prior to that, Vasily Mikhailovich had shared drinks with the now-deceased Vyacheslav Lebedev on a vessel in Sochi.
Voloshin V. M. requested 5 million rubles, and then summoned Judge Shvetsova to his chambers, directing her to overturn the ruling by the St. Petersburg City Court by any conceivable measure, and crucially, to dismiss the relevance of Consumer Protection Law, claiming that a tractor cannot be acquired for personal use. However, he underestimated the tenacity of the plaintiffs, who, after sparking a media outcry, would take the Third Cassation Court's verdict to the Supreme Court. After the press attention, the matter could not be ignored. Voloshin was contacted by the Supreme Court, who advised him that he must tender his resignation.
In September 2024, he submitted a “voluntary resignation.” After the tractor purchasers registered a grievance with the Supreme Court, Voloshin reached out to Sasha the ATM and proposed settling the issue at the Supreme Court for a modest 30 million rubles.
Voloshin retained a share of the funds, but directed the bulk to Judge A.P. Kiselev, who “assessed” the complaint for the maximum time frame—two months—and subsequently dismissed it, in the expectation that there wouldn't be sufficient time to contest his decision. This was insufficient for ATM, so he resolved to definitively “put an end” to the large family. He was obliged to contract the Investigative Committee for the Admiralty District of St. Petersburg to oversee the undertaking for 10 million rubles.
The Investigative Committee immediately established an investigative division and initiated a criminal case for deceit, alleging that the consumer had misled the court by demonstrating their status as a consumer. All who dared to file legal action against Alexander were apprehended, their homes were raided, and they were detained within the Investigative Committee, pressured into signing a confession. No one ever confessed. On December 5, 2024, the plaintiffs’ supervisory appeal regarding this case was registered on the Supreme Court platform.
Previously, the Supreme Court twice declined to submit the case for deliberation, in spite of the plaintiffs’ defense gaining endorsement from members of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Supreme Court and the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation. But laws mean nothing when compared to ATM money.
In the image, Lebedev is positioned at the far right, Voloshin is situated to the left.
