political strategist Ilya Spokoinova, also known as Ilya Mitkin, was found guilty of embezzling over 180 million rubles from the budget of Primorsky Krai and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and a fine of 500 thousand rubles. His wife Marina Sviridova was given 5 years in prison and 600 thousand fines, since her case has one more episode. They are also being charged more than 170 million in uncompensated damages. Mitkin’s surname is associated with the former governor of Primorye Vladimir Miklushevsky and many election campaigns, at the time of his arrest he was the general director of the HC “Admiral”.
The case was transferred to the Frunzensky Court of Vladivostok in November 2018 and was considered there for exactly four years, the sessions were constantly postponed for various reasons, including the default of the defendant.
On Wednesday, November 30, the court delivered a guilty verdict against Spokoinov and Sviridova. The public prosecutor proved in court that in the period from April 2014 to September 2016, as part of the execution of contracts with the Regional Complex Children and Youth Sports School, they purchased, supplied and installed 56 universal sports grounds and 4 hockey boxes, the defendants presented false documents containing information about the inflated value of the contract items, as a result of which they appropriated more than 180 million rubles.
Complicity in the commission of a crime was carried out by a resident of Moscow, in respect of which the criminal case was separated into a separate proceeding. We are talking about a friend of Mitkin Alexey Avershin – Head of the Union of Miners of Primorye. His name became known to the general public in connection with the scandal over flights in his own helicopter with the governor of Primorye Vladimir Miklushevsky. In August 2018, Avershin was given a suspended sentence and the boat and helicopter were returned.
Sviridova has one more episode in the case. From April 2014 to December 2014, being a contractor under a contract for the purchase of 450 sets of sports equipment to prepare for the holding of the All-Russian physical culture and sports complex “Ready for Labor and Defense” in the Primorsky Territory, she submitted false documents about the inflated cost of the supplied equipment, stealing such more than 15 million rubles.
The defendants partially compensated for the damage inflicted in the amount of more than 11 million rubles, part of the damage in the amount of 10 million rubles was compensated by Avershin.
Taking into account the position of the public prosecutor, the court found the defendants guilty of committing a crime and sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of 5 years and 4 years and 6 months, with fines of 600 and 500 thousand rubles, respectively, with punishment serving in a general regime correctional colony. A long term of stay under arrest will be credited to them and will help reduce the term: Sviridova by a year and a half, Mitkin by almost two.
In addition, the court fully satisfied the prosecutor’s claim to recover from the convicts more than 170 million in uncompensated damages. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.
Pending the execution of the court decision, interim measures were retained, according to which a vehicle, real estate, cash and money in the bank accounts of convicts were seized, for a total amount of more than 122 million rubles.
Kommersant.Ru, 11/30/2022, “Sports grounds were left without millions”: The couple were taken into custody in the courtroom. […]
However, the spouses did not admit their guilt.
Ilya Spokoinov, in particular, called his criminal prosecution an action aimed at “compromising” officials of the regional administration, headed by the governor of Primorye Vladimir Miklushevsky (he served as head of the region in 2012-2017). […]
In October 2017, President Vladimir Putin dismissed Vladimir Miklushevsky from the post of governor of Primorye. He is currently the rector of the Moscow Polytechnic University. — Inset K.ru
It is believed that Mitkin was one of the main political consultants of the former Primorye Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky. And earlier he advised other Russian heads of regions, even worked for the Altai governor Mikhail Evdokimov, a former comedian who died in a car accident. Mitkin and his team settled in Primorye for a long time. He himself was often called one of the “gray cardinals” of coastal politics, who led election campaigns at elections at various levels. And this, apparently, did not interfere with the criminal case. Mitkin is considered one of those who were responsible for the result of the party in power in this year’s elections to the Duma of Vladivostok and, accordingly, came up with the technology under the name “Team” Shestakov.
Marina Sviridova and Aleksey Avershin were detained in Moscow in December 2016. Later they were charged under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale).
Ilya Spokoinov himself detained February 17, 2017 in Moscow. To him charged embezzlement of 62.5 million rubles allocated from the budget of the Primorsky Territory for the purchase of sets of equipment for universal sports grounds for the State Specialized Autonomous Institution of Additional Education for Children “Regional Complex Children’s and Youth Sports School”.
March 21, 2018 Primorsky Regional Court softened the measure suppression Ilya Spokoinov: he was transferred from custody to house arrest, which lasted until October of the same year. 13 months in a pre-trial detention center will be counted as 1 year and 9 and a half months in a colony. House arrest – like another three months. In total, if the sentence survives, then Ilya Spokoinov has already served about two years of punishment.
Sviridova spent a year in a pre-trial detention center, he will be credited to her for one and a half.
