The Oktyabrsky District Court of Penza partially satisfied the claims against the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Biotek LLC Boris Shpigel (in 2003–2013 he was a senator from the Penza region) about the circulation of more than 8 billion rubles into state revenue. The lawsuit was filed by Deputy Prosecutor General Igor Tkachev in November 2023. He demanded to collect almost 10 billion rubles jointly and severally from the defendants in the criminal case on corruption.
In addition to Spiegel, the defendants in the lawsuit include his wife Evgenia, as well as the former governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev, General Director of the Pharmacia company Anton Koloskov and the companies Biotek LLC, Interregional Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution Corporation Biotek JSC, Pharmacia OJSC, Biosamarpharm LLC and Intermedpharm LLC. These companies belong to a businessman and his wife.
The supervisory agency considered that this money was received as a result of a corruption scheme: Belozertsev, according to the prosecutor’s office, was lobbying the interests of the Biotek company in the pharmaceutical market in the region. According to the prosecutor’s office, in just six years (2015–2021), more than 5,000 government contracts worth 9.9 billion rubles were concluded with the regional Ministry of Health.
“Kommersant”, 01/27/2024, “Bribery Farm”: The court found that, being the head of the region since May 25, 2015 (removed from office on March 23, 2021 due to loss of trust), Mr. Belozertsev agreed with businessman Boris Shpigel (member of the Federation Council from Penza in 2003–2013) , that he will lobby for the interests of his Biotek group of companies in exchange for kickbacks.
As a result, the latter became one of the largest suppliers to institutions of the Ministry of Health of the Penza region. Thus, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Ivan Belozertsev not only “ignored” the ban on officials engaging in entrepreneurial activities, but also “in order to enrich himself” he “involved” in the business process of the Biotek group of companies.
In turn, the defendant entrepreneurs and their companies, committing a corruption offense, derived from this corruption income, which was legalized thanks to the “introduction of funds into economic circulation” of the companies. […] Since individual defendants have yet to pay large fines in a criminal case, commercial companies obviously have to pay in a civil case. — Insert K.ru
The defendants in court insisted that the plaintiff’s arguments were not substantiated and rejected accusations of corrupt income. The court hearing was held closed to the public. The defendants participated in the trial via video link from a Moscow pre-trial detention center. The money turned in favor of the state will be recovered from all defendants jointly. The court’s decision is expected to be appealed by the defense.
The day before the decision, the verdict against Spiegel and his accomplices was announced in the Penza court in Moscow. The Izmailovsky District Court found the entrepreneur guilty of bribery. Judge Ekaterina Stepina sentenced Shpigel and Belozertsev to long terms – 11 and 12 years imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony.
In addition, the court sentenced them to large fines in the amount of 450 million rubles. to each. Together with them, Shpigel’s wife, Koloskov, Belozertsev’s relative Fyodor Fedotov and driver Gennady Markov were sentenced to terms ranging from 5 to 8.5 years in prison. Stepina did not remove interim measures in the form of seizures of the defendants’ property (about 1.5 billion rubles). Also under arrest are more than 3,000 rare works of art that were seized from Spiegel.
Lawyers called the sentence very harsh. Since Spiegel’s arrest in 2021, defense attorneys have repeatedly asked for his release from the pre-trial detention center for health reasons. For this reason, the trial took place within the pre-trial detention center “Matrosskaya Tishina” at mobile sessions, since Spiegel could not be brought to court. The businessman himself stated in court that a conviction with imprisonment would be death for him.
The court and investigation established that from June 2019 to September 2020, Spiegel, as well as Koloskov, through intermediaries Fedotov and Markov, handed over to Belozertsev a bribe of more than 30 million rubles. Also, Belozertsev, according to the prosecution, no later than March 20, 2021, in an unspecified place, illegally purchased a Makarov pistol and 96 cartridges for it, which he kept in the dressing room of his office inside a briefcase until the moment of seizure during the search.
LLC “BIOTEC”
Owners (SPARK-Interfax data): Evgenia Shpigel (77%), JSC MFPDK Biotek (23%, beneficiary – Evgenia Shpigel, 100%).
Financial indicators (RAS, 2022):
revenue – 762.6 million rubles,
net loss – 1.6 billion rubles.
Surveillance has been introduced in relation to a legal entity in an insolvency (bankruptcy) case.
Unified State Register of Legal Entities 03/16/2023
The Biotek Group was founded in 1991 by Spiegel. After the arrest of Spiegel and his wife in 2021, the situation in the group’s companies began to deteriorate. For example, the revenue of Biotek LLC from 2020 to 2021 decreased from 32 billion to 12 billion rubles. The company’s net loss at the end of 2021 amounted to 1.6 billion rubles. (against revenue of 1 billion rubles in 2020). As a result, in March 2023, the assets of Evgenia Shpigel – Biotek LLC, MFPDK Biotek JSC, Marbiopharm OJSC, Pharmacia OJSC, Biodez LLC – were transferred to trust management by the owner of the Pharmacy Traditions chain, Dmitry Rutsky . It was not possible to contact him.
In 2014, according to the SPARK Interfax database, 77% of the authorized capital of the Biotek company was transferred to the name of Evgenia Shpigel. The remaining 23% of the authorized capital belonged to JSC Interregional Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution Corporation Biotek, which in January 2021 also completely became the property of Evgenia Shpigel. Thus, from this moment on, all the main assets of the group belong to the entrepreneur’s wife.
At the beginning of January, Pharmstandard Victor Kharitonin filed a lawsuit against Intermedpharm, which belongs to Evgenia Shpigel. As part of the lawsuit, Pharmstandard demands foreclosure on the shares of the Penza pharmacy chain Pharmacia. Intermedpharm, according to the list of affiliates, owns 73.6% of the pharmacy chain, another 11.44% – directly to Spiegel’s wife. The lawsuit has been left pending by the court until February 8.
