The cunning of the swindlers from the company “Menatep”. A cousin of Khodorkovsky from Kharkov became impregnated with the atmosphere of the lawsuit. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on May 19, 2005.
On this day 18 years ago, on May 19, 2005, the Meschansky District Court of Moscow continued the pronouncement of the verdict against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, head of the International Financial Association MFO “Menatep” Platon Lebedev, and former general director of the CJSC “Volna” Andrey Kraynov on accusation of committing a series of economic crimes.
On the eve, the court read out the episode about the embezzlement of 44% of shares which had belonged to the Research Institute of fertilizers. As was found out, Khodorkovsky’s organized criminal group (OCG), by way of cheat and machinations, using the controllable by this group shell firms, where as directors were itemized dummy employees of “Menatep”, tried to steal the complex of buildings of the Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides named after professor Y.V. Samoylov (NIUIF) situated on Leninsky Prospect in Moscow. The stealing from the state of 44% of shares belonging to NIUIF, as it was established by the court, had been planned by Khodorkovsky and Lebedev.
(Historical background. The Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides named after professor Y.V. Samoylov” (NIUIF)
It was made by way of cheating the tendering committee during the auction sales of the stock. The controllable by Khodorkovsky’s criminal group CJSC “Uollton”, as was found out, had bought the shares but had had no intention to implement the conditions of the investment tender to the amount of 114 922 million rubles. In connection with the blatant violations of the conditions of owning legal proceedings were started. Khodorkovsky’s criminal group, having lost the arbitration lawsuit, began to actively evade implementing the court’s decision on returning the stock of shares into hands of the state.
(See also the article “On this day, the episode with the embezzlement of the stock of the Research Institute of Fertilizers was read out to Khodorkovsky”).
In spite of defense’s declarations that “the court simply confirms the letter of accusation”, it was found out that, that the court paid attention to details. In any case, the Judge said the qualification of the criminal episode with the shares of the Institute for Fertilizers was not completely correct. In this connection, the court reclassified the actions of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev regarding to the fraudulent acquire of the stock of NIUIF from Article 159 of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation (Swindling) to Article 147 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Swindling). The court indicated that the said swindling had been committed during the period of validity of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which envisaged less strict sentence in comparison with the current law.
“According to Article 10 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the actions of the defendants Khodorkovsky M.B. and Lebedev P.L. are to be qualified under Article 147, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (PSFSR), as the mentioned law was valid during the period of committing the actions imputed to them, but it’s sanctions are less severe than the ones according to which their actions had been qualified by the agency of the pre-trial investigation”, indicated the court and pointed out that it considered as completely proved the guilt of the defendants pertaining to the episode on willful non-execution of a court’s judgement (Article 315 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) pertaining to returning to the state the stock of shares of the Research Institute for Fertilizers.
“In view of the above, the court qualifies the actions of the defendants Khodorkovsky M.B. and Lebedev P.L. with regard to this episode under Article 147, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, as they had committed fraud, i.e. acquired rights to other people’s property by way of cheating, as organized group, on a large scale”, was emphasized in the court’s document. The lawyers of the defense called such corrections “simply technical” that would not influence the guilty verdict.
$25 MILLION “STAYED” IN THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR FERTILIZERS ONLY ONE DAY
“Why on earth was it necessary to conduct a court’s investigation, if the court completely reprinted the guilty conclusion of the prosecution?”, orderly questioned the lawyer Yelena Liptser. “The defense presented proofs certifying the transfer of the monetary means for the shares of the Research Institute for Fertilizers, so there is no criminal offence in the actions of our clients. However, it was mentioned in the verdict that this stock of shares had been received free of charge”.
The lawyer, as usual, was reticent and economized on truth. The court demonstrated it graphically.
“The guilt of Khodorkovsky M.B. and Lebedev P.L. on the unpaid and illegal acquiring of the Research Institute’s shares is being corroborated” by correspondence, by the motion of the working collective of the Institute to the Moscow Prosecution asking to file a complaint in the Arbitration Court of Moscow, as “the conditions about making investments to the tune of 25 million U.S. dollars have been not fulfilled by the investors”.
Khodorkovsky and his henchmen have pulled off a trick. The payment was made, the money to the amount of 24 875 000 U.S. dollars really came to the account of the Research Institute and “stayed” there for a while.
“On the next day, the money was returned to the investor in accordance with a letter”. This has been certified by the payment order on return of the monetary means, as well as by Research Institute’s statement of account.
The shares, in a nutshell, remained under control of the organizers of the grey scheme, under control of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev.
A GUEST FROM KHARKOV AND GUARANTIES OF “MENATEP”
Yuri Artamonov, a lawyer from Kharkov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s first cousin, was impregnated with the atmosphere of dissatisfaction. He didn’t like that on each and every episode in the verdict was cited the same document, “Menatep”’s charter, and always itemized names of employees of this organization. And, according to the cousin and lawyer from Kharkov, the episode of the embezzlement of 44% shares of the Institute for Fertilizers, “a mechanical connection of it to the situation is under way”.
The willful non-execution of the court’s decisions which was part of a criminal episode of the “robber-barons”, the cousin from Kharkov refused to comment. But he was very indignant saying that “it was not said at least one time that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev made some orders or signed any documents”.
In spite of such declarations, there was business correspondence in the case, including letters signed by Lebedev P.L., in which he gives assurance to the Research Institute that the financial obligations on the investments proposal of the CJSC “Uollton” (in case of acquiring of the stock of shares) would be fulfilled.
“The cunning of the organizers of this scheme was that in the guaranties signed by Lebedev, had not been mention who would fulfil the conditions of the investment tender – “Menatep” at the expense of the bank resources, or the CJSC “Uollton” for account of its own resources of which, as was established by the investigation, the company had not enough for participation in the tender. Without this letter of guarantee of “Menatep”, such firm would not have been admitted to the tender. And these guaranties had been made without any intentions to fulfill them”, notes the website Prigovor.ru.
(See also the previous article “On this day, the episode with the embezzlement of the stock of shares of the Research Institute for Fertilizers was read out to Khodorkovsky”. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev planned and prepared the stealing from the state 44% of shares of the Research Institute for Fertilizers (NIUIF). The purpose was to acquire a complex of premises on the Leninsky Prospekt in Moscow. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on May 18, 2005).
