Source The head of the United Russia faction in the City Duma of Voronezh was imprisoned. The Leninsky District Court of Voronezh granted the request of the regional department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) to detain the head of the United Russia faction in the City Duma of the regional center, 45-year-old Roman Zhogov, for two months. If the decision comes into force, he will have to stay in the pre-trial detention center until at least January 29. Investigators believe that the deputy achieved fictitious employment of his wife at the plant of a member of the same party and, under the pretext of financing the party, received 2.4 million rubles from him, which he spent on himself. Roman Zhogov himself categorically denies any guilt. “United Russia” suspended the membership of the defendant in the party.
Roman Zhogov and his wife Maria are suspected of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, up to ten years in prison). According to investigators, in 2010, a man who served as deputy head of the regional executive committee of United Russia turned to his fellow party member, head of Voronezh Experimental Mechanical Plant LLC Alexander Provotorov, demanding monthly funding for the party. To do this, Mr. Zhogov allegedly asked to fictitiously employ his wife at the enterprise.
“Alexander Provotorov, being under the influence of deceit and being dependent on Roman Zhogov on the party line, agreed with the illegal demand and employed his wife as a specialist in financial analysis of the department of economics, planning and marketing. Subsequently, from November 2010 to May 2020, Maria Zhogova was fictitiously employed, did not fulfill her duties, did not attend the workplace, ”the investigation materials say.
Mr. Provotorov transferred monthly salary to Mrs. Zhogova's bank account. This money was not directed to finance the party, but was spent by the suspects, the TFR is sure. For ten years, in this way, the suspects received from him a little less than 2.4 million rubles.
Mr. Provotorov himself turned to the investigating authorities while in custody: this spring he received two years in prison for fraud (part 3 article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He was convicted of a similar crime.
As the court established, being the deputy chairman of the Duma, before the elections in 2020, he demanded 1 million rubles from one of the candidates. for coordinating his participation in the voting, but did nothing, actually embezzling the money. According to Kommersant, Alexander Provotorov is preparing to consider his petition to replace the unserved term with a lighter sentence.
Roman Zhogov was detained on 30 November. He spent two nights in a temporary detention center, and today the investigation asked the court to send him to a pre-trial detention center. The defense of Mr. Zhogov asked to choose a less severe measure of restraint – a bail, a ban on certain actions or house arrest. The court was provided with data on a bank account with 500 thousand rubles, which can become the initial part of the pledge. The defense is ready to increase it to 2 million rubles, the amount of the alleged damage inflicted on Alexander Provotorov.
Roman Zhogov's representative expressed doubt that it was the head of the plant who was the victim: in his opinion, the version of the investigation indicates damage to himself an enterprise whose money the director did not spend for economic purposes.
The court, however, considered that without isolation from society, Roman Zhogov, due to his social position and connections, could interfere with the investigation and influence other participants in criminal proceedings. Lawyer Stanislav Ryvkin told Kommersant that the decision would be appealed.
Roman Zhogov himself at the meeting repeatedly declared his innocence. “I think this is a political order. The case was initiated on formal grounds based on the words of my opponent, with whom we competed for the position of first deputy city duma in 2020,” says Roman Zhogov. The deputy asked not to take him into custody, as he is the only breadwinner, has a six-year-old daughter and does not feel very well.
During the meeting, Mr. Zhogov held his chest in the heart area. He told the judge that he had been called to the ambulance twice: “Heart turned out to be weak.” Nevertheless, during the break, he actively communicated with reporters. The deputy answered almost all questions, refusing only to name the customer of his criminal case: “You already know.”
The suspect asked those present whether he should leave the Duma “after this.” “If only to the State Duma,” one of the journalists sneered.
Recall that Roman Zhogov was elected to the city parliament after five years as a deputy in the regional parliament, where he also led the United Russia faction and headed committees on local self-government, mass media and mass communications and property and land relations. After being taken into custody, United Russia suspended Roman Zhogov's membership in the party.
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