Ural developers Fribus received probation for embezzlement of equity holders

Alexander Fribus Sr. received 6 years probation, and his son Alexander Fribus Jr. received 3 years probation.

In Yekaterinburg, a guilty verdict was passed against the owner of the BZSK Group, Alexander Fribus Sr., for embezzlement of more than 285 million rubles. in the performance of government contracts for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Despite the demands of the prosecutor’s office to impose a real prison sentence on him, the court sentenced the businessman to a suspended sentence. Earlier, his son Alexander Fribus, convicted of causing damage to equity holders of a residential complex in Pervouralsk, received a suspended sentence.

The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg announced the verdict to Alexander Fribus Sr. on Thursday, July 27. The businessman was found guilty of fraud on an especially large scale using his official position (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The court sentenced him to five years of suspended liberty with a fine of 700,000 rubles. The prosecutor’s office in the debate requested six years in prison.

The prosecutor’s office of the Sverdlovsk region stated that they had not yet made a decision to appeal the court’s verdict. Within 15 days, the decision will be examined for the presence or absence of grounds for its appeal.

According to the investigation, from January 2013 to December 2015, the Berezovskstroyinvest company, which was controlled by Alexander Fribus, entered into a state contract with the Capital Construction Department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry for the construction and reconstruction of the material base of the Ural Regional Search and Rescue Squad of the department.

According to Kartoteka.ru, Berezovskstroyinvest was registered in 2004 and was engaged in the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. 100% of the authorized capital of the company was owned by CJSC Berezovsky Plant of Building Structures (BZSK). In 2017, Berezovskstroyinvest was declared bankrupt, and bankruptcy proceedings were opened against the company.

The security forces believe that the businessman instructed the company’s employees to provide the customer with fake bank guarantees, as well as to enter false information in the acts of work performed and in certificates of their cost. As a result, more than 212 million rubles were stolen.

From June 2015 to November 2016, another company of Alexander Fribus Sr., Nefteyuganskstroyinvest LLC, entered into a state contract for the construction of a water rescue station in the Verkh-Isetsky district of Yekaterinburg. According to a similar scheme, another 73 million rubles were stolen.

At the beginning of the week in Yekaterinburg, the court passed a sentence on the son of Alexander Fribus, Alexander, who, according to Kartoteka.ru, previously held the positions of CEO in several companies that are part of the BZSK Group and in respect of which bankruptcy proceedings were launched. On Monday, July 24, the Leninsky District Court sentenced him to three years in prison conditionally under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing property damage on an especially large scale).

The press service of the court told Kommersant-Ural that he was released from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. At the same time, he was initially to be judged under Part 5 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale), according to which the statute of limitations for criminal liability would not expire.

The criminal case against Alexander Fribus Jr. is connected with the construction in 2015 of the residential complex “Optimist” in Pervouralsk (Sverdlovsk Region), which was carried out by the developer company “BZSK StroyInvest”.

It was expected that equity holders would receive apartments in the summer of this year, but in 2016 the developer ran out of funds, and construction stopped. The security forces found out that from June 2015 to June 2017, the company’s CEO withdrew funds to the accounts of organizations that had nothing to do with construction.

The damage caused by his actions amounted to almost 200 million rubles. The case of Alexander Fribus Jr. began to be considered in 2018, but it was repeatedly transferred to different judges and to different courts in the region. Residential complex “Optimist” was completed and commissioned in 2019.

Another problematic project was the residential complex “Berezki” in Berezovsky, in 2013 it began to be built by the company “BZSK-Invest”, which was previously headed by Alexander Fribus Jr., and his father was a contributor. The company commissioned the first multi-storey building on time, but due to financial difficulties, the construction of the remaining buildings was suspended. Shareholders received apartments in the second house after three years of waiting, it was handed over only in September last year. The third house residents had to wait four hzikhidtidekrt of the year.

In 2014, BZSK-Invest began to build the Gagarinsky residential complex in the center of Yekaterinburg. In 2017, the company went bankrupt and construction was suspended. 51 families were among the defrauded equity holders. At the end of 2019, Atomstroykompleks agreed to complete the construction of the house. The house was completed in 2022.