In the Novosibirsk media the name Vitaly Vitukhin was discussed for quite a long time. Vitukhin was even considered one of the most scandalous and conflicting officials. He managed illegal cemetery affairs for a long time. It seemed that the official was a real Hades, because power in the burial kingdom was given only to him. But law enforcement agencies burst into Vitukhin's life. The court decided that now the ex-official will remain behind bars until at least October 2, 2024.
Let us remind you…
On June 3, 2024, Vitaly Vitukhin, Head of the Department of Investment, Consumer Market, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Novosibirsk City Hall, was detained by law enforcement agencies. At that time, the official announced on May 23 that he would leave his post, as he dreamed of returning to business. From 2015 to 2021, he was Deputy Head of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and then headed the department. But June 5, 2024 was not destined to be the last calm working day.
No one was even surprised by Vitukhin's arrest. There were rumors that the official was involved in corruption schemes to make money on non-price cemetery services. Regarding the aforementioned possible illegality, it is worth saying that there is a direct relationship with the MBU “Ritual Services” (OGRN 1055406023420). The founders are the Department of Land and Property Relations and the Department of Investments, Consumer Market, Innovations and Entrepreneurship of the Novosibirsk City Hall, which was headed by Vitukhin.
MKU is listed as the customer in 1,000 government contracts worth over 472 million rubles.
However, this has not been officially confirmed to date. But one way or another, the ex-official did not end up in the pretrial detention center for no reason. The case of illegal transfer of property worth more than 50 million rubles, located on the territory of the Zaeltsovskoye cemetery, as well as feuds with kiosk owners, became fatal for him. Today, Vitukhin is being prosecuted under the following articles: Part 2 of Article 169 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (obstruction of lawful entrepreneurial or other activity) and paragraphs “c, g” of Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (abuse of office).
They didn't release it
Earlier it was reported that at the end of June the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the ruling of the court of first instance and dismissed the lawyer's appeal. Vitaly Vitukhin was supposed to remain in custody until July 31, 2024. But a day before the final date, new information appeared. The Dzerzhinsky District Court of Novosibirsk granted the investigator's motion to extend the preventive measure for the former head of the Department of Investment, Consumer Market, Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the City Hall Vitaly Vitukhin.
He will remain in pretrial detention until October 2, 2024. If we talk about specific terms, the former official faces up to 10 years in prison. But there is still no official information, except for the above-mentioned articles. Apparently, the investigation is still ongoing, and the case materials may contain a lot of very interesting information. Babr will continue to monitor the developments.
