In Syzran, a criminal case was opened on suspicion of embezzlement of funds allocated by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. The money was sent to the public organization “Rallying” for the implementation of the project “Historical and Patriotic Festival for Children and Teenagers “I Remember and I’m Proud!””, specifically for the reconstruction of the Battle of Kursk. The show with fake tanks in the gym of the Syzran branch of SamSTU cost more than 2 million rubles. Earlier, social activists wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office against the head of “Rally” Sergei Ivanov, indignant, in particular, with the “special effects” expense item, which in fact consisted in the fact that students hit the models with their hands, imitating shots.
On February 27, the Investigative Department for the city of Syzran of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Samara Region opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud) on the report of the theft of funds allocated by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
The money was sent to the public organization for the support and development of martial arts “Cohesion” for the implementation of the project “Historical and Patriotic Festival for Children and Teenagers “I Remember and I’m Proud!””.
The head of the public organization is Sergei Ivanov, a member of the City Duma from United Russia. He told Kommersant that he had learned about the criminal case from social networks: “I called the investigator in the morning and asked why I was not informed about this charge. I was told that I was not the accused, the case was initiated against unknown people. How so, if I am known and counterparties too? They said that such requirements. It turns out that the case was opened, but there are no guilty parties. I sent a lawyer there.”
Earlier, the head of the SROO “Ambulance Youth Assistance” Konstantin Tretyakov wrote a statement to the prosecutor’s office against Sergei Ivanov, who organized the reconstruction of the Battle of Kursk. The show with fake tanks in the gym of the Syzran branch of the Samara State Technical University cost more than 2 million rubles. from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. 550 students of city branches of SamSTU and SSEU carried out five reconstructions, representatives of Rally report.
Social activists were especially outraged by the “special effects” expense item – in fact, students hit the mock-ups with their hands, depicting shots. How much money was spent on it is not specified. The lawsuit also noted that the performance did not have enough machine guns, pants, caps, decorations and shoes of those times, and the tanks were “props of handicraft origin.”
Sergei Ivanov clarified to Kommersant that about 2.175 million rubles were allocated for the reconstruction. These funds were used to purchase metal tanks, machine guns, 60 sets of uniforms of each type, banners, and stands. Also, the filming was paid for with this money. “Everything we needed was supplied by contractors. I even contributed my own money for the implementation of the project,” the deputy emphasized.
“As far as I understand, while we are talking about pre-qualification (fraud), – says Dmitry Gorbunov, partner at Rustam Kurmaev and Partners. – This is one of the basic compositions when it comes to signs of an economic crime.” According to the expert, as a rule, after the circle of accused is determined and as evidence is collected by the investigation authorities, the composition is specified: “However, it is far from a fact that the proceedings will not be terminated at all due to the lack of composition as such. This is possible if all the documents confirming the costs and sources of funding are available, and the actions of the suspects do not reveal the intent to commit certain actions for the purpose of embezzlement or profit.”
