342 million rubles were laundered and legalized through charity laundries. The preliminary start of the second case. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on March 3, 2005 and 2009.
On this day, on March 3, 2005, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia completed the investigation of the criminal case against Alexey Kurtsin, the acting office manager of the company “Yukos-Moskva”, accused of embezzlement and legalization of illegally acquired pecuniary means.
The acting office manager of the company “Yukos-Moskva” Alexey Kurtsin was arrested with the approval of the Basmanny Court of Moscow in November 2004. Imputed to him were embezzlement and laundering on an especially large scale (Article 160, paragraph 4, Article 174, paragraph 4, and Article 174-1 of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation) of assets belonging to the company “Yukos-Moskva”. According to the investigation, from January to July 2004, the money of the company, under instruction of Kurtsin, were being transferred to accounts of “social organizations” and foundations in Moscow, Tula, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Rostov-on-Don, Vladimir, Izhevsk, and Neftekamsk. On the whole, as reported the Office of the Prosecutor General, 342 million rubles were laundered and legalized. Together with Kurtsin, for a reward, acted a large group of accomplices from regions and the capital. It was pointed out that the whole chain had been directed to the leadership of the company “Yukos-Moskva”, and the central figure in this scheme was Mikhail Trushin, the first vice-president of “Yukos-Moskva”. He promptly fled to Great Britain, where he received citizenship.
See also the article “On this day crashed the “charity” laundry of Yukos”. Acquisition and laundering. Yukos money was transferred to accounts of shell civic organizations and then cashed out”
THE PRELIMINARY START OF THE SECOND CASE
On the same day, on March 3, 2009, the preliminary proceedings began on the second criminal case against Platon Lebedev and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Both defendants were transported to Moscow as early as in February so that they have the opportunity to carry out all necessary consultations with lawyers and prepare for the proceedings.
The second criminal case was files in 2005, on the basis of the materials gathered in the course of the preliminary investigation within the framework of the criminal case No 1-23/10 (the big case of Yukos). In February 2007, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia, after the completion of the investigation, officially brought a charge against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, confirming that they were accused of embezzlement of oil and laundering of money – Article 160, paragraph 4, of the Criminal Code, Article 174.1, paragraph 4, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Even before the begin of the proceedings, two oil companies that were part of “Yukos perimeter”, took an action against the former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the head of the International Finance Association MFO “Menatep” Platon Lebedev on recovery of damages to the amount of 170 billion rubles. The company “Tomskneft” laid an action on the recovery of 93 billion rubles, and the company “Samaraneftegaz” on the recovery of 77 billion rubles. However, the accusation was wider than the financial claims of the “affiliates”. The point was about the embezzlement, by way of misappropriation, by the Oil company Yukos, in 1998-2003, of the oil belonging to its affiliates – JSC “Samaraneftegaz”, JSC “Yuganskneftegaz”, and the JSC “Tomskneft” to the amount of more than 892.4 billion rubles and of legalizing of part of these pecuniary assets in 1998-2004 to the tune of 487.4 billion rubles and 7.5 billion U.S. dollars.
“The defendants were delivered to court in an armored mini-bus an hour before the beginning of the proceedings. Mikhail Khodorkovsky was dressed in a black overcoat and blue jeans, and Platon Lebedev was dressed in parka jacket and track bottoms.
“While entering the premises, Khodorkovsky, for some reason, shouted “Disgrace!”, and his supporters threw through the iron gates some carnations, conveyed reporters. According to the procedure, preliminary hearings the sides carry through in camera. That is why the press was asked to leave the process”, notes the website Prigovor.ru.
(See also the previous article “On this day, the Oil Company Yukos became frightened of court action”. Business reputation of a fraudulent tax dodger. 200 billion rubles of tax arrears. The website Prigovor.ru reminds its readers of what happened on March 2, 2004 and 2005.
