The Perm District Court has sentenced Igor Kozhevnikov, the former head of the UFSSP for the region. He was found guilty of 40 corruption offences. Among them are 38 bribes, organization of fraud on an especially large scale and abuse of power. According to investigators, in 2017-2018 Kozhevnikov received bribes of 11,000 rubles. up to 1 million rubles for assistance to entrepreneurs in cashing out about 222 million rubles. through the FSSP account. Mr. Kozhevnikov himself categorically denies guilt, insisting that he was slandered by former subordinates, who organized the illegal scheme. The court sentenced him to ten years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 15 million rubles.
Former chief bailiff of the Perm Territory, Igor Kozhevnikov, became one of the highest-ranking representatives of law enforcement agencies in the history of the region, accused of corruption, and the record holder for the number of episodes brought against him. The criminal case against Mr. Kozhevnikov was initiated in 2019 by the Investigative Committee of the ICR for the region based on the materials of the long development of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On July 24 of the same year, Igor Kozhevnikov was detained, and the court chose a preventive measure for him in the form of detention. Then he was charged with two episodes of taking a bribe, but in the course of the investigation, the number of alleged crimes increased rapidly.
Testimony about the involvement of the chief bailiff in illegal activities was first given by his former subordinates – the former head of the inter-district department of the UFSSP Alexandra Mardanova and her employee Yulia Penkevich. Thus, Mrs. Mardanova stated that she personally gave him bribes from entrepreneurs for money withdrawal services. As a result, investigators and operatives uncovered an extensive scheme for cashing out funds through the settlement account of the department. To implement it, entrepreneurs often received court decisions on labor disputes on the basis of fictitious documents, on the basis of which enforcement proceedings were initiated. Then the funds were transferred to nominal collectors, who were controlled by cashiers. The materials of the criminal case say that in total, the investigators established the fact that more than 220 million rubles were transferred to the shadow sphere. The TFR also believes that 3 million rubles. of those listed by the entrepreneurs on the account “for laundering”, were stolen. This episode was qualified by Mr. Kozhevnikov as organizing a fraud on an especially large scale.
Igor Kozhevnikov himself categorically denies guilt, during the process he convinced the court that the case was ordered and was actually based on the testimony of Alexandra Mardanova. In his opinion, Mrs. Mardanova gave deliberately false testimony in order to mitigate her guilt, since earlier a criminal case had also been initiated against her. Therefore, Mrs. Mardanova entered into a pre-trial agreement, under which she was obliged to tell about crimes that were not yet known to the investigation. “Mardanova, with the help of the investigation, invented testimony,” Igor Kozhevnikov believes.
The pre-trial agreement eventually led to the aggravation of the charges for Mardanova herself: she was accused of illegal enrichment as a member of an organized criminal group. According to the court verdict, Alexander Mardanova received five and a half years of real imprisonment and a fine of 3.5 million rubles. Now both the defendant and the prosecutor’s office are trying to challenge this judicial act.
State prosecutor Sergei Busov suggested that Igor Kozhevnikov be sentenced to 13 years in prison with a fine of 50 million rubles, as well as to deprive him of his special rank and the right to hold positions in the civil service for seven years. The court verdict turned out to be a little softer: Mr. Kozhevnikov received 10 years in a strict regime colony and a fine of 15 million rubles. He is also deprived of the right to hold certain positions for seven years and the special title of state counselor of justice of the second class. The defender of the convict said that together with the principal he would appeal the verdict.