Today, October 18, in the Nizhny Novgorod District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, the verdict was announced to the former head of the Department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Volga Federal District, and then acting. Head of the interregional department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Samara and Ulyanovsk regions Oleg Kruchinin. The court found him guilty of receiving three bribes.
The court found it proven that Oleg Kruchinin received bribes in the amount of 6.8 million, 2 million 840 thousand and 1.9 million rubles. For this, he was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security colony with a fine of 230 million rubles and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for 15 years.
The court also deprived 46-year-old Oleg Kruchinin of the rank of State Advisor of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism), 2nd class.
“Kommersant”, 10.18.2023, “Friends brought us to the landing”: Former head of the territorial bodies of Rosprirodnadzor Oleg Kruchinin was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security colony. […] In 2017–2021, he first headed the department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Volga Federal District, then reorganized into the department for the Nizhny Novgorod region – the Republic of Mordovia, then went into private business, and then returned to serve in Rosprirodnadzor, acting as head of the Samara and Ulyanovsk regions.
Oleg Kruchinin was detained on November 16, 2021, while exiting a train in Samara. Two FSB operatives were traveling with him in the compartment, and marked five thousand dollar bills were taken from the pocket of the detained official’s jacket. […] Testimony against him was given by his friends, director of NTN LLC Anton Lyubakov and co-founder of LUK-Regions LLC Dmitry Lavrov (*international criminal).
The third key witness for the prosecution was the director of the Volga laboratory center of Rosprirodnadzor (TsLATI in the Volga Federal District), Andrei Chernyshev, he said that he collected money “for gifts” from his subordinates and gave it to Oleg Kruchinin for his help in appointing him to the position. According to witness testimony, envelopes and bundles of cash were systematically transferred through an intermediary, lawyer Rafail Guliyev. He also brought legal money to the Kruchinin family, since he bought a share in the Vad oil depot from Oleg Kruchinin’s mother and gradually paid off the debt. Oleg Kruchinin did not admit guilt and claimed that the investigation did not understand his job responsibilities, work rules and interaction between the territorial bodies of Rosprirodnadzor and the central office of the service. — Insert K.ru
Let us remind you that the prosecutor’s office proposed to sentence him to 17 years in a maximum security colony with a fine of 250 million rubles.
The ex-official’s property was seized: two residential premises on Sergievskaya and Okhotnichyaya streets in Nizhny Novgorod, half a land plot in the regional center and half a land plot in the Gorodets district, two snowmobiles, a car, as well as 17.3 thousand rubles in the account. If the fine is not paid voluntarily, the penalty will be applied to the seized property.
KP.ru, 10/18/2023, “13 years in prison and a multimillion-dollar fine: The court sentenced the former head of Rosprirodnadzor in the Volga Federal District”: Also on August 31 of this year, the prosecutor’s office sent a lawsuit to the Nizhny Novgorod District Court to seize Kruchinin’s property for the state’s benefit. The fact is that the audit showed that from November 2012 to June 2021, Oleg Kruchinin, while holding government positions, purchased expensive cars and real estate. Their cost significantly exceeded his legal income.
“The total value of the hidden property was more than 35.2 million rubles,” the prosecutor’s office added. As it turned out, Kruchinin registered his property in the name of close relatives in order to hide his condition. — Insert K.ru
The defense did not agree with the verdict.
“I believe that guilt has not been proven,” lawyer Mikhail Garanin commented on the verdict. “An appeal will be filed.”
According to the lawyer, at the stage of operational-search activities and investigations in the case, “a lot of violations” were committed.
Earlier on the website pravda-nn.ru it was reported that Oleg Kruchinin did not admit guilt.
