The businessman’s case, which was suspended three months ago, has been reopened Vladislav Levchugova and the former head of the department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) for the Tomsk Region Sergei ArefievOn September 18, the first hearing after the break was held in the Yurginsky City Court of the Kemerovo Region.
Let us recall that both Levchugov and Arefyev were detained on December 2, 2021. Levchugov – on suspicion of acting as an intermediary in the transfer of a bribe on an especially large scale (part four of Article 291.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)). Arefyev – on suspicion of receiving a bribe on an especially large scale through an intermediary (part six of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)). The bribe-giver was an entrepreneur Sergey Chulovskyagainst whom a criminal case had previously been opened for tax evasion. Levchugov and Arefyev allegedly extorted money from Chulovsky.
Investigative Committee of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism):
On March 30, 2022, Levchugov filed a claim against Chulovsky to recover amounts under the loan agreement. On April 27-28, 2022, in the Leninsky Court of Tomsk, Levchugov’s representative Valery Makhrov tried to prove that those 42.5 million rubleswhich Chulovsky handed to Levchugov, was not a bribe to Arefyev, but a return of a debt. But he could not prove it. The trial was postponed until the end of the criminal investigation.
On November 2, 2022, it became known that another criminal case had been opened against Levchugov – on the illegal circulation of weapons, their main parts and ammunition (part one of Article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)).
Levchugov faces up to 12 years in prison on the first charge, and up to four years on the second. Arefyev faces up to 15 years in prison.
In early June 2024, the Levchugov/Arefyev case was suspended. The reason was the conduct of a phonoscopic-linguistic examination, the need for which was stated by the state prosecutor.
And so, in the card index of the Yurginsky City Court, a note appeared indicating that a hearing on this case took place on September 18.
Unfortunately, no details about the hearing are known. But it is likely that they did present a transcript of the audio recording proving the guilt of Levchugov and Arefyev (the prosecutor was seeking an expert opinion). Therefore, we assume that the suspects will not have long to wait for a verdict – the judge Nina Sidorinawill most likely manage to finish by the end of the year. And so the series has already dragged on… Babr will continue to follow the development of this story.
Reference
Levchugov was/is the director and/or founder of the following commercial companies: LLC Alliance of Regional Retailers (LLC ARR), housing and construction cooperative Lama (abolished), housing and construction cooperative Progress-2000 (abolished), credit consumer cooperative of citizens Credit Union Lama (abolished), LLC Lama-AV (abolished – now GC Lama), LLC Lama+ (abolished), CJSC Capital Group (abolished), LLC Golem (abolished), LLC Avtosnab (abolished), LLC Aktsiz (abolished), LLC Restorator (abolished), LLC Sibirinka-1 (abolished), LLC Management Company Retail (abolished), LLC Real Estate Center (abolished), LLC Rassvet, LLC Management Company “Emerald City”, OOO “Oasis”, TROO “Tomsk Regional Boxing Federation”, OO “Tomsk Union of Martial Arts”, OOO “Brand-master”, OOO “SibAeroKraft”, OOO “Triumph” (abolished), OOO “RestGroup” (abolished).