The head of the seaside town of Bolshoy Kamen, Rustyam Abushaev, has been put on the federal wanted list, his whereabouts are unknown. The official is accused of fraud with land plots (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and illegal business (Article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Literally the day before, a criminal case against Alexander Andryukhin, Abushaev’s predecessor as mayor of Bolshoy Kamen, was brought to court. He is also accused of fraud with the land.
As the prosecutor’s office of Primorye reported today, the day before, the supervisory authority recognized the lawful initiation of a criminal case against Abushaev. The crimes imputed to him date back to the period when he headed another municipality of Primorsky Krai – the Nadezhda district. According to investigators, the former head is involved in illegal operations with the land of the municipality. So, in the period from June 2019 to July 2020, two land plots on the territory of the De-Vries peninsula and the village of Klyuchevoy with an area of more than 3 hectares were provided to the fictitious property of a disabled person and a labor veteran.
The market value of the plots is estimated at 54 million rubles.
Then this land was re-registered for third parties, divided into 22 smaller plots, which the defendants in the criminal case “disposed of at their own discretion.”
The defendants in this case are also the former first deputy head of the Nadezhdinsky district, Alexander Sultanov, and the former specialist of the department of architecture and urban planning of the administration of the Nadezhdinsky district, currently serving as vice-mayor of Ussuriysk, Maxim Stefanenko. These officials have been arrested.
The supervisory agency reported that it was seeking the return of illegally re-registered land plots to municipal ownership, interim measures were taken on the claims of the prosecutor.
According to another episode of the accusation, Rustyam Abushaev “despite the prohibition established by law, through proxies participated in the management of the activities of a commercial organization engaged in the provision of retail space for rent.”
The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that Abushaev was put on the federal wanted list because there was no information about his whereabouts. The investigative department of the ICR for Primorye added that Rustyam Abushaev was charged in absentia.
In the reception room of the mayor of Bolshoy Kamen, Kommersant was told that “the head is on vacation”, refusing to comment in more detail.
In the Telegram channel of Rustyam Abushaev, the last entry is dated March 19.
Rustyam Abushaev in 2019-2021 headed the administration of the Nadezhdinsky district of Primorye. Then he was appointed head of the Big Stone.
Earlier, Abushaev had already had a conflict with law enforcement officers. In July last year, the prosecutor’s office of the Nadezhdinsky district stated that in the period from 2019 to 2021, the head of the Nadezhdinsky district illegally issued himself bonuses totaling more than 300 thousand rubles. In response, the official said that “the prosecutor is working out a certain political order.”
The day before, on March 21, the prosecutor of Primorye, Sergei Stolyarov, approved the indictment against Alexander Andryukhin, Abushaev’s predecessor as head of Bolshoy Kamen. He is accused of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of official powers) and Part 2 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of official powers).
According to investigators, while serving as mayor, Andryukhin “provided his relatives, administration workers and other close associates” with 30 land plots in the best places in the municipality. In fact, this land was intended for “citizens with three or more children,” the supervisory authority said in a statement. Also, the ex-mayor is charged with pressure on his subordinates so that citizens’ applications for granting them land plots near the village of Petrovka under the Far Eastern Hectare program are not considered. As a result, 13 people did not receive land.
As part of interim measures in a criminal case, Alexander Andryukhin’s property was seized – a Mazda B2500 car, as well as shares in the ownership of another car, two land plots and two non-residential buildings with a total area of more than 200 square meters. m.
Alexander Andryukhin was appointed Mayor of Bolshoy Kamen by deputies of the local Duma in January 2018, and in December 2021 he resigned. In March last year, the ex-official was detained and then arrested. Today, the Frunzensky District Court of Vladivostok granted the request of the investigation and arrested Abushaev in absentia. In the city of Bolshoi Kamen (population – about 40 thousand people) there is a large shipyard “Zvezda”.