Ivan Belozertsev paid for Boris Shpigel’s medicines
The Izmailovsky Court of Moscow sentenced the former governor of the Penza region to 12 years in prison with a fine of more than 450 million rubles Ivan Belozertsev. He was found guilty of receiving in 2019-2020 bribes amounting to more than 30 million rubles from the head of the Biotek group of companies Boris Shpigel for concluding lucrative contracts with his companies for the supply of medicines.
Boris ShpigelThe entrepreneur received a year less – 11 years in prison with a similar fine. Four more defendants, including the businessman’s wife Evgenia Shpigelwere sentenced to terms of 7.5 to 8.5 years in prison for giving bribes and mediation.
Evgenia ShpigelDespite the fact that the case had been heard in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center since March 2023, judge Ekaterina Stepina decided to announce the verdict in the district court building. She managed to do this on the second attempt – the procedure was originally scheduled for January 22, but it was postponed without explanation.
Like last time, five defendants, including Belozertsev, were brought to court. A video link was organized with the sixth, Boris Shpigel, from the pre-trial detention center, since doctors did not recommend his delivery (Spigel suffers from a number of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. – BFM). His face on the monitor screen of “Matrosskaya Tishina” was barely visible. Boris Shpigel was accompanied by two cellmates who help the businessman move around the detention center when a wheelchair cannot pass there.
Since, according to the new rules, judges announce the introductory and operative parts of the verdict, everything took a few minutes. However, it was not immediately possible to understand what the judge said in a quiet voice at a fast pace.
The key defendant, Ivan Belozertsev, was found guilty of several counts of receiving bribes on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)), as well as illegal possession of firearms — a Makarov pistol with cartridges (Part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)), found during a search in his office.
In addition to a fine of 450 million 57 thousand rubles, this is 15 times the size of the bribe, the judge deprived him of state awards – the Order of Honor and the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree. Belozertsev is also prohibited from holding positions in the civil service for ten years after his release.
Three years in custody
The governor of the Penza region, Ivan Belozertsev, was arrested in March 2021 and removed from office due to loss of confidence on suspicion of corruption. The alleged bribe-giver, former senator from the region, ex-producer and former father-in-law of singer Nikolai Baskov, and head of the Biotek group of pharmaceutical companies Boris Shpigel also ended up in the pre-trial detention center. The same fate befell four accomplices: the businessman’s wife Evgenia Shpigel, the director of Pharmacia OJSC (this company manages the pharmacy business of the Biotek group of companies) Anton Koloskov, the driver of the governor Gennady Markov and the deputy head of the Penza region representative office under the Cabinet of Ministers, Belozertsev’s relative Fedor Fedotov. Depending on their role, they were charged with giving a bribe to an official on an especially large scale or with mediation (Part 5 of Article 291 and Part 4 of Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country)).
The investigation concluded that in 2019-2020, Ivan Belozertsev, for bribes in the amount of 20 million rubles, made Boris Shpigel’s companies the main suppliers of medicines and medical products in the Penza region, ensuring the conclusion of at least 99 lucrative pharmaceutical government contracts with them.
The official received another 4 million rubles from the businessman for general patronage of his companies. The Investigative Committee also regarded Belozertsev’s receipt of a Breguet watch worth 5.8 million rubles as a bribe, as well as the free use of a Mercedes car, which the Investigative Committee interpreted as a service of a “property nature” worth about 166,865 rubles.
Money from the joke bank
Immediately after his arrest, Ivan Belozertsev admitted his guilt in receiving 20 million rubles from Boris Shpigel, which he, according to him, allocated for his election campaign. However, then the person involved refused this testimonysaying that he was not himself, since the investigative actions without sleep and food lasted 20 hours.
As a result, in court Belozertsev did not admit guilt, and his defense, with the help of money from the “joke bank,” tried to refute the prosecution’s version that Fyodor Fedotov took cash from Spiegel for the governor. Lawyers argued that although the bundles of banknotes would fit into the black canvas bag that he had with him, it would be unrealistic to travel around the city with it on public transport, since the cash would stick out. Belozertsev denied receiving other bribes. Thus, he stated that he did not know the value of the watch given to him, and when he found out, he immediately tried to return it to Spiegel, but he had already left for treatment in Israel.
Boris Shpigel denied the fact of giving bribes to the governor and stated that during the incriminated period he spent a large sum of money on the purchase of a rare book about the coronation of Emperor Alexander II, published in the 19th century, for which paid 8 million rubles.
Punishment
During the debate, the prosecution insisted on 13 years in a maximum security colony for Belozertsev. Prosecutors proposed sentencing the remaining defendants to terms ranging from eight to 12 years in prison. In turn, the defense asked the defendants to be acquitted. The court found their guilt proven.
The sentence turned out to be slightly lighter than the terms requested by prosecutors: the court sent Boris Shpigel to a colony for 11 years, also with a fine of 450 million 57 thousand rubles. He was stripped of the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st class.
His wife Evgenia Shpigel and Anton Koloskov received 8.5 years each with fines of 150 million and 60 million rubles, respectively. And Gennady Markov and Fedor Fedotov were each sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. In this case, all defendants will serve their sentences in a maximum security colony, and Evgenia Shpigel will serve in a general security colony (according to the law, a strict regime is not provided for women).
“Death Sentence”
Leaving the court, the defendants’ lawyers stated that they did not agree with the verdict and intended to appeal it. “For some episodes, there is not just a crime, there is no crime,” Ivan Belozertsev’s lawyer Alexey Shuvarin told Business FM. And Boris Shpigel’s defender Zarina Farnieva told a radio station correspondent that the sentence assigned to her client was tantamount to a “death sentence.” She noted that during the three years that the investigation and trial continued, her client practically did not leave prison hospitals, was confined to a wheelchair, and in March 2023 suffered a heart attack.
“He was never brought to court, and the trial was carried out outside due to the fact that doctors did not allow Spiegel to be transported due to the threat to his life and health,” she recalled. The lawyer believes that there is no evidence in the case of the former governor lobbying the interests of Boris Shpigel, “this is not confirmed by the investigation materials.”
Claim for 10 billion
During the investigation, the defendants’ property was seized (for example, Boris Shpigel’s art objects were seized, including rare books, as well as collections of coins and paintings), and the court left him under arrest until the verdict came into force. If he survives the appeal, the property will be turned into state revenue to ensure payment of fines.
It is interesting that the plot of the accusation changed during the investigation. Thus, in the final version of the prosecution, the episode related to the transfer of a Mercedes-Benz V 250d minivan to the ex-governor disappeared from the case. At first, the investigation believed that the car worth 5 million rubles. was handed over by Boris Shpigel to an official as a bribe. But another foreign car appeared in the case – a Mercedes-Benz S 350d 4MATIC, the use of which by the official was regarded as “non-property services” worth 166.8 thousand rubles. Another episode of receiving a bribe in cash was added – 4 million rubles.
These are not all the claims of law enforcement officers against the defendants, who, obviously, will have to pay several times more. The Oktyabrsky Court of Penza is currently considering a claim by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which demands that Ivan Belozertsev, Boris and Evgenia Shpigel, a number of companies controlled by them, and Anton Koloskov recover 9.9 billion rubles in state income. The supervisory agency justifies its demand by the governor’s violation of anti-corruption legislation. According to security officials, Ivan Belozertsev violated the ban on engaging in commercial activities while he was an official, since he actually became involved in the business of the Biotek group of companies.
The company is currently going through bankruptcy proceedings – its accounts were blocked in February 2023, and a monitoring procedure was introduced in March, which means the first stage of bankruptcy.
The hearing on the claim of the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia (*aggressor country) Igor Tkachev is being held behind closed doors, and the outcome of the case is not far off: on January 26, the parties will continue to debate the parties, after which the court will decide. Ivan Belozertsev’s lawyers have no doubt that the court will satisfy the claim “if the state has set such a task.” However, according to the ex-official’s lawyer Alexei Shuvarin, there is nothing special to take from his client – as part of the criminal case, a residential building with land, a garage, and one-fourth of an apartment in Penza were seized.
For Boris Shpigel, this lawsuit means much more. If it is satisfied, the company may cease to exist, and its creditors will be left with nothing, predicts the newspaper “Izvestia”.
Biotek also owns the Pharmacia chain of pharmacies. According to SPARK, its largest customers are medical institutions in the Penza region. From 2015 to 2021, the regional Ministry of Health concluded 63 contracts with the company for more than 300 million rubles. By according to Kommersant, the assets of Pharmacia can be transferred to other owners, and Pharmstandard, another largest supplier of medicines under government contracts, can recover them. Biotek owes him more than 600 million rubles. The parent company itself had previously pledged the shares of Pharmacia to Pharmstandard.
In total, from the beginning of 2018 until the arrest of its founder, the company won 2,552 contracts totaling more than 37 billion rubles. After the arrest, their number and volumes decreased sharply – according to the SPARK database, from 16.8 billion rubles in 2019 to 123.8 million in 2023.
