In the Lefortovo Court of Moscow, a trial has begun in the case of former high-ranking officials of North Ossetia – Prime Minister Sergei Takoev, Minister of Tourism Alan Diambekov, Ministers of State Property Kazbek Fidarov and Economic Development Madina Ikaeva, as well as the management of OAO Ossetian Automobile and Tractor Electrical Equipment Plant. The defendants are accused of embezzling 180 million rubles. when buying in 2014 the ownership of the republic of the real estate of the enterprise at an inflated price. Most of the defendants in the case plead not guilty.
The Lefortovo Court of Moscow, chaired by Sergei Ryabtsev, held a preliminary hearing on an almost 90-volume criminal case on the embezzlement of 180 million rubles. budgetary funds, committed, according to investigators, by former members of the government of North Ossetia and their accomplices.
There were seven people in the dock, led by the former prime minister of the republic, Sergei Takoyev.
Criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (misappropriation or embezzlement committed by an organized group on an especially large scale) was initiated by the main investigative department of the TFR in August 2021 based on the materials of an audit of the spending of budget funds in North Ossetia conducted by the Prosecutor General of Russia.
As it was established during the preliminary investigation, having entered into a criminal conspiracy, the Minister of Tourism of the Republic Alan Diambekov, the Minister of Economic Development Madina Ikaeva and the Minister of State Property and Land Relations Kazbek Fidarov “with the knowledge and consent” of the head of government Sergey Takoev and with the participation of the contract manager of the Ministry of State Property of the Republic Zaurbek Tsogoev, as well as the director of the Ossetian Automobile and Tractor Electrical Equipment Plant (OZATE) Aida Gabaraeva and her deputy Oleg Gabuev, in the period from 2012 to 2014, “ensure the conclusion of a state contract on the acquisition of the plant’s property at an inflated price in the amount of 180 million rubles.” .
According to the investigation, in 2012, Takoyev, Diambekov and Gabaraeva, with the help of other persons, organized the very conclusion of a contract on the acquisition of a number of real estate objects of the enterprise into republican ownership, and “in May 2014, the head of state property and land relations, Kazbek Fidarov, acting as part of an organized group , illegally and free of charge transferred the funds entrusted to him from the settlement account of the Federal Treasury for the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania to the account of OZATE, thereby wasting them and causing damage to the budget of the republic on an especially large scale.
The first defendants in this high-profile case, initially, as often happens, initiated against unidentified persons, were Sergey Takoev, Alan Diambekov and Aida Gabaraeva in August 2021. They were detained, taken to the capital, where the Basmanny District Court chose them as a measure of restraint in the form of detention. Later, other defendants appeared in the materials of the investigation. Most of them plead not guilty to the crime they are accused of.
In order to ensure the execution of the sentence for the possible satisfaction of the civil claim filed by the Republican Ministry of Property and the recovery of the fine provided for by criminal law, the investigation succeeded in seizing the property belonging to the accused.
The investigation of the criminal case was completed at the end of last year, and on December 26, the Prosecutor General’s Office approved the indictment and sent materials to the Supreme Court with a request to change the territorial jurisdiction.
According to the oversight agency, the process should not have been held in North Ossetia, at the place where the alleged crime was committed, since in this case pressure could be exerted on the court. The Supreme Court granted the petition, after which the materials were sent to the Lefortovo Court of the capital for consideration on the merits.
Sergey Takoev headed the presidential administration and the government of North Ossetia since 2005, was the president of the Spartak-Alania football club. In April 2006, it should be noted, the Prosecutor General’s Office charged him with fraud with the financing of the club, as a result of which Mr. Takoev was not only removed from his posts, but was kept under house arrest for four months. The investigation ended with the full acquittal of Mr. Takoev in court, he even received compensation for illegal criminal prosecution in the amount of 2.5 million rubles.
The defense of the defendants considered it premature to give any comments on the merits of the case.