Siberian academician lost with a cottage

In Novosibirsk, the debate of the parties on the case of the former chairman of the Siberian Branch (SB) of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Aseev began. The academician is accused of illegal privatization of a departmental cottage, the damage from which the investigation estimated at almost 46 million rubles. The prosecutor’s office asked for a five-year suspended sentence for the scientist and a fine of 500 thousand rubles, offering to transfer a mansion with an area of ​​600 square meters to state ownership. m in Akademgorodok. The lawyer insists on the acquittal of the academician and the recognition of his right to rehabilitation for unfounded criminal prosecution.

The trial of academician Alexander Aseev, who served as chairman of the SB RAS from 2008 to 2017, has reached the finish line. The prosecutor’s office was the first to sum up the results of the judicial investigation, which believes that the scientist’s guilt was confirmed during the trial.

As indicated in the case, which was initiated based on the materials of the FSB, from October 2009 to June 2015, the physicist Aseev allegedly obtained a cottage in the Novosibirsk Academgorodok for him as head of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then illegally privatized the house.

It follows from the materials of the case that Alexander Aseev convinced the members of the Presidium of the SB RAS that the cottage would serve as a residence for receiving foreign delegations, and organized expensive repairs there. The construction was carried out by the SB RAS and at its expense.

When signing the lease agreement, the academician, according to the case, entered into it the data of his daughter, who allegedly lives in the cottage. After that, he organized a fictitious registration of a relative at the indicated place of residence and, on her behalf, filed a lawsuit against the SB RAS to recognize the ownership of the cottage in the privatization procedure. At the same time, the scientist allegedly forged the signature of his daughter, who lives in France.

“Based on the submitted fictitious documents, the misled judge made a decision to satisfy the stated claims. As a result of the illegal actions of the chairman of the SB RAS, his daughter’s ownership of a residential building worth about 46 million rubles was registered, ”the investigation materials indicate.

According to part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud, the maximum punishment is ten years in prison), the state prosecution requested five and a half years of probation for academician Aseev with a probationary period of three years and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. The prosecutor’s office also demanded that the academician’s cottage be handed over to the state.

Lawyer Gennady Shishebarov believes that the prosecutor’s office did not prove the accusation against Alexander Aseev, and also did not refute the arguments of the defense given in his acquittal.

According to the lawyer, the decision to provide Alexander Aseev with a service cottage was legal and consistent with the practice that existed in the SB RAS – service cottages were allocated to the directors of the institutes of the SB RAS, and Alexander Aseev from 1998 to 2013 headed the Institute of Semiconductor Physics. A. V. Rzhanova. There were no other contenders for this mansion, the lawyer said, at that time.

The defense side calls unsubstantiated the assertion of the investigation that Alexander Aseev allegedly convinced the members of the Presidium of the SB RAS that the cottage would serve as a representative residence for receiving foreign delegations: the house was originally provided to the academician and his family for living. Earlier, the ex-chairman of the SB RAS noted that he, as the tenant of the office space, had to provide only cosmetic repairs, and the cottage needed a major overhaul.

The lawyer noted that Alexander Aseev donated to the ownership of the Russian Federation a 4-room apartment with an area of ​​​​about 137 square meters belonging to him and his wife. m in an elite house on Akademika Koptyug Avenue in Akademgorodok.

“The Aseevs could have donated an apartment to close relatives. They could sell it to third parties, earning a significant amount for it. In this case, Aleksandra Aseev would become a citizen who was not provided with housing, and he would have no obstacles to obtaining a service cottage for use. But only a dishonest person could act like that. Academician Aseev is a decent person. Therefore, he did not sell his aforementioned apartment before receiving a service cottage and did not enrich himself by selling it. After moving into a service cottage and privatizing it by his daughter, he donated his expensive apartment to the Russian Federation, which transferred it to the operational management of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” said lawyer Shishebarov

The defender added that the investigation kept silent about the fact that the Aseev couple donated an expensive apartment to the state. “Having indicated this circumstance in the charge, the investigator with his own hands would have destroyed the charge of fraud formulated by him,” Mr. Shishebarov believes.

The lawyer drew attention to the fact that in 2014-2015 scientists and members of their families privatized 30 office cottages and 53 office apartments in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. No one, except for the Aseev spouses, says the defender, did not give anything to the state during the privatization of cottages and apartments.

Lawyer Shishebarov told Kommersant that he would insist on the acquittal of Alexander Aseev for the lack of corpus delicti in his actions and on recognizing the academician’s right to rehabilitation for unreasonable, in the opinion of the defense, criminal prosecution. On May 12, the defender will continue his performance.

Alexander Aseev headed the Novosibirsk Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for 15 years. He is a specialist in atomic structure, electronic properties and diagnostics of semiconductor systems. He was elected Chairman of the SB RAS twice: in 2008 and 2013. In the fall of 2017, Alexander Aseev did not agree with the choice of the Presidium of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who recommended Valentin Parmon for the post of the future head, who eventually headed the SB RAS.