From 1998 to 2004, an organized group of persons from the "main shareholders" stole and legalized 450 billion rubles and $7.5 billion. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on December 12, 2007.
On this day, on December 12, 1997, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev learned that the New Year they would have to welcome not in the colonies, where they had been sitting on the first verdict, but in the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) in the town Chita. In this pre-trial detention center, they were going to get acquainted with the materials of the second criminal case, connected with the accusation of stealing oil disguised as "borehole liquid", legalizing the embezzled property and money laundering.
Ingodin Reginal Court of the town Chita, on December 12, 2007, granted a motion of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia and prolonged the term of imprisonment in the pre-trial detention center of Chita for Mikhail Khodorkovsky until February 2008. On the eve, the Court also prolonged until February 8, 2008, the term of imprisonment in CIZO for Platon Lebedev, the head of the company “Menatep”.
Lawyers of the persons involved challenged this decision in court. However, the Court of Chita found the decision lawful and reasonable and upheld the previous decision.
In the pre-trial detention center of Chita Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were brought in the middle of December 2006 upon the demand of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia – for carrying out investigative actions. The accused were transported from the colony of the town Krasnokamensk of the Chita Region (Khodorkovsky) and from the colony of the township Kharp of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region (Lebedev), where they had been sitting their 8-year terms under the sentence of 2005 for fraud and tax evasion. This time, they would have to study the materials of the second case and to develop their defense lines.
INVARIABLY SCANDALOUS REPERTORY
By the way, the transition of “the most transparent managers” from the colonies to the pre-trial detention center in Chita was marked by the regular shamanistic rituals of the “not indifferent” public both inside Russia and beyond its boundaries. Retold and at once refuted non-existent citations from the bill of indictment. Lawyers told about “incredible sums of damage”. From beyond the ocean voices were heard also paid for by lobbyists of “Menatep”. Long story short, a useless noise was made in order to erode the essence of the presented accusations. However, some lawyers gave intelligible assessments, evidently understanding the essence of the accusations and indicating that the second case would be “harder” than the first one, where one of the key episodes – the episode of stealing of the shares of the JSC “Apatit” – was dropped because of the expiring of the term of limitation. The second case didn’t offer such prospects.
THE ORGANIZED GROUP OF KHODORKOVSKY “LAUNDERED” 450 BILLION RUBLES AND $7.5 BILLION
The accusations, in their preliminary form, with regard to Lebedev and Khodorkovsky on the second case, were brought in February 2007. “The Office of the Prosecutor General of Russian brought charges against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev connected with the stealing of shares, belonging to the state, as well as with embezzlement of oil and legalizing (laundering) pecuniary means, gained through the realization. From 1998 to 2004 the organized group of persons from the "mains shareholders" stole and legalized 450 billion rubles and $7.5 billion", pointed out the investigation. Two years later, on February 16, 2009, it was announced that the letter of accusation on the second case was confirmed, and the materials would be sent to court", notes the website Prigovor.ru.
(See also the previous article “On this day, organizing of murders and attempted murders were imputed to Khodorkovsky”. “Khodorkovsky charged subordinated to his Nevzlin and Pichugin with…”. Twice “nonpolitical”. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on December 11, 2015.
