The Presnensky court began considering the case of the senior manager of the Marukame network, Ivan Kibalchich, who is accused of particularly large-scale fraud. Ivan Kibalchich is a key witness for the prosecution in the case of Olga Mirimskaya, owner of BKF Bank and Russian Product company, who is charged with several episodes of bribery. It was during the verification of the testimony of an important witness that the investigators suddenly found out that at one time he, posing as an experienced lawyer, received a fee of half a million dollars from Olga Mirimskaya, although he had neither a legal education nor relevant practice. And after the fraud was revealed, Ivan Kibalchich did not return the money.
The case of an employee of the Marukame restaurant chain is being heard by the Presnensky Court in a special (simplified) manner – Ivan Kibalchich himself asked for this. He pleaded guilty to fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and entered into a pre-trial agreement with the prosecutor’s office. However, despite the absence of the need to deal with the case materials on the merits, the district court has already postponed the hearings three times, and on February 22, at the request of the defense of the accused, it completely closed the hearings for journalists. As the defendant stated, motivating his demand, he fears “psychological, and possibly physical pressure on the family from third parties, including Olga Mirimskaya.”
The case, from which the materials regarding Ivan Kibalchich were then separated, was initiated by the Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) for the Southern Administrative District of Moscow on May 19, 2017. It was investigated against unidentified persons on the fact of giving a bribe on an especially large scale (Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and mediation in it (Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The investigation could not establish the possible recipients of the money, therefore, “unidentified employees of the Presnensky District Court” appeared in the case. However, at the same time, the investigators had no doubts about what the money was transferred for – for the decision in a civil case on the division of property, in which Olga Mirimskaya, the owner of the Russian Product company and BKF Bank, and her ex-husband, a former top manager of Yukos, participated investor Alexey Golubovich.
Recall that, among other things, in the district court, the couple shared almost $ 2 million and a mansion on Nikolina Gora with an area of \u200b\u200babout 1 thousand square meters. meters with a land plot under it, which were estimated at $10-11 million.
The court ultimately decided to divide the property in equal shares, although both parties insisted on transferring it to exclusive use.
On September 19, 2017, Ivan Kibalchich was detained for the first time as part of an investigation on suspicion of mediating a bribe. However, two days later he was released due to “the absence of grounds for choosing a measure of restraint for him.” But on July 20, 2022, the manager was detained again, this time he was charged with fraud on an especially large scale. On the same day, the Basmanny District Court sent him to a pre-trial detention center. Moreover, the case of Ivan Kibalchich was conducted by the same investigator as the case of Olga Mirimskaya.
An unusual situation developed: by the time of his arrest, Ivan Kibalchich was a key witness in the case of the banker. By this time, the materials of the investigation had already been transferred to the Main Investigation Department of the ICR, new episodes appeared in the case, of which there were four in total. The total amount of bribes from the banker amounted to almost $ 2 million. It is on the testimony of the manager and his wife Ekaterina Seryakova, who headed the legal department of Russian Product, that two episodes of the accusation are based: attempts to bribe the judges of the Presnensky Court in the amount of $ 550 thousand and $ 700 thousand— judges of the Ninth Court of Appeal.
However, checking these testimonies, the investigation, according to Kommersant, found out that the manager of the restaurant chain, posing as an experienced civil lawyer with great connections in the judiciary, volunteered to help Olga Mirimskaya in the property division process and received a fee of $ 500 thousand. And after the fraud was revealed, the money was never returned.
On March 16, the trial is scheduled for the debate of the parties.