Three Investigative Committee officers were detained by FSB officers. The head of the internal security department, Mikhail Maksimenko, his deputy Alexander Lamonov and the first deputy head of the State Security Administration for Moscow Denis Nikandrov are suspected of receiving bribes from gangster structures. Lamonov and Maksimenko were arrested for two months.
He turns for a second to look at the cameras through the holes in his mask. Khaki balaclava with a cap pulled down tightly on top. Deputy head of the Internal Security Service of the ICR, Alexander Lamonov, who clearly had time to prepare for appearing on screens in a new status, defiantly stands with his back to the journalists, reports. All this time, talking in a low voice with the lawyer.
Lamonov, together with his immediate supervisor Mikhail Maksimenko and the first deputy head of the Moscow headquarters of the Investigative Committee Denis Nikandrov, was detained in the morning right at his workplace.
A million dollars for “solving the issue.” The amount of bribe the detainees are accused of receiving is shocking.
We are talking about helping the Russian crime boss Shakro Molodoy. An odious figure in the criminal world, Kalashov was detained in connection with the extortion of eight million rubles from the owner of one of the capital’s restaurants.
A dispute over the rights to the establishment ended in gunfire last December. One of its participants, Andrei Kochuykov - in criminal circles he is called Italian and is considered Kalashov’s “right hand” - was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center. But when the arrest period came to an end, the operatives were surprised to learn that for some reason the investigators did not submit a petition to extend it to the court. Kochuykov, who had already left the pre-trial detention center, had to be detained again. The obvious oversight of the Investigative Committee staff was quite possibly not accidental.
Now the apartments of suspected department employees are being searched. Seven more high-ranking officers are being tested for involvement in the criminal scheme. Prosecutors had questions for Nikandrov before. The Investigative Committee has allegedly already received requests to check where an employee of the department got an apartment in the elite residential complex "Scarlet Sails".
And after all, he built his career precisely on cases related to corruption and official crimes. In 2007, there was a high-profile trial against the mayor of Volgograd, Evgeny Ishchenko. Then he moved to serve in the State Investigative Directorate, where Nikandrov led the investigation into the work of illegal casinos in the Moscow region. The Prosecutor General's Office then sought his removal due to violations during searches. Nikandrov also handled the case of Alexander Bokov, director of the bureau for coordinating the fight against organized crime in the CIS. As a result, Bokov received nine years in prison for fraud.
On Tuesday, July 19, employees Federal service Security Services conducted searches and seizure of documents in the capital's department of the Investigative Committee. FSB operatives detained the head of the department of interdepartmental cooperation and internal security of the RF Investigative Committee, Mikhail Maksimenko. According to information voiced by several Russian media, the arrests are related to the case of thief in law Zakhary Kalashov, known as Shakro Molodoy. Kalashov was detained by the FSB on July 11, 2016 in Moscow. According to the Kommersant newspaper, a total of seven high-ranking employees of the Investigative Committee are involved in the case. Yesterday evening, the Lefortovo court in Moscow took into custody for a period of two months the head of the Internal Security Directorate of the Investigative Committee Maksimenko, his deputy Alexander Lamonov and the first deputy head of the Moscow department of the Investigative Committee Denis Nikandrov. Investigators from the Investigative Committee were removed from the case; it is entirely handled by the subordinates of Alexander Bortnikov.
In the apparatus wars of the security forces, the FSB and the Investigative Committee often acted together, but after yesterday’s arrests in the Investigative Committee building on Arbat, it is unlikely that anyone will have any doubts about the senior in this tandem. The coalition cooperation of the Investigative Committee and the FSB in the struggle for influence with the Prosecutor General's Office, the defeat of the top GUEBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, joint arrests of governors and mayors of large cities failed to provide immunity to high-ranking employees of the Investigative Committee.
Responsible for his own security in the Investigative Committee, Mikhail Maksimenko is called the “right hand” of the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin. The detention and initiation of a criminal case against the head of the internal security department of the Investigative Committee, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, must be agreed upon personally with the head of the Investigative Committee. However, Bastrykin remained silent all day, which suggests that the searches and arrests were a complete surprise to the country’s chief investigator.
Everything indicates that the head of the Investigative Committee was presented with a fait accompli and made it clear that the detention of people from his inner circle was agreed upon with Vladimir Putin.
Several versions of what happened are being discussed in the public space:
Version 1. Gift to Bastrykin.
Those who follow the political agenda even half-heartedly understand that the fate of Alexander Bastrykin, which Dmitry Peskov hastened to speak out about, depends primarily on his personal connection with the president. Vladimir Putin’s classmates, who reached heights in the bureaucratic hierarchy, were not only not thrown off the bureaucratic Olympus after the scandals, but they were helped in every possible way to settle more comfortably on it. Conspiracy theorists can regard the arrests as a hardware blow to Bastrykin, and even delivered a week before his professional holiday - Investigative Officers' Day Russian Federation, which is celebrated on July 25. Those who counted loud scandal With the announcement of the imminent resignation of the head of the Investigative Committee, they probably began to speculate about his successor from among his deputies or employees of other law enforcement agencies. However, this seems premature to say the least.
Version 2. New broom in the FSB.
Apparently, a significant role in this matter is played not by an internal apparatus game within the Investigative Committee, but by rotation in a parallel law enforcement structure. Most recently, on July 8, 2016, Vladimir Putin replaced the head of the Service economic security FSB: this was Sergei Korolev, who previously headed the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate. It is within the structure of the FSB SEB that the “M” department is included, which is responsible for coordinating and checking personnel, identifying corrupt officials in the ranks law enforcement, including the Investigative Committee. It is obvious that the new SEB team, endowed with a credit of trust from the leadership, is initiating criminal cases against high-ranking security officials, thus demonstrating new rules for interaction between the FSB and other law enforcement agencies. There are simply no partnership conditions for such interaction.
Version 3. Personal conflict.
It is necessary to pay attention to one more detail: Investigative Committee General Mikhail Maksimenko himself, who was taken into custody for a long time worked as deputy head of department “M” and probably had a full understanding of how operational measures should be carried out in relation to law enforcement officers. However, this did not save him either. It can be assumed that there is a personal conflict between Maksimenko and his former colleagues. According to information published in Moskovsky Komsomolets, the reason for this conflict was the non-extension of the detention of one of the criminal authorities, previously detained by FSB operatives on the initiative of the head of the Internal Security Service of the RF IC. If this version is correct, then it is quite possible that the FSB is simply putting things in order in its area of responsibility and this story is only indirectly related to the fight against corruption.
Whichever of the three (and if we take into account the official one, even four) versions turns out to be correct, we think the following is important.
It doesn’t really matter what the fate of Bastrykin himself will be. It matters that the institutional weight of the Investigative Committee has now noticeably decreased.
It looks like Bastrykin was unable to protect people from his inner circle, which means that the rest of the Investigative Committee employees cannot hope for a favorable outcome in the event of an interdepartmental conflict. The day before, the arrested generals of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation were still sitting together at a meeting with the head of the department for interaction with the media, General Markin, at the same table, and today he contemptuously calls them “so-called colleagues.” The top ranks of the Investigative Committee understand that they can come for any of them, and anyone can end up behind bars - regardless of their official weight and proximity to the head of the Investigative Committee.
Not so long ago, the head of the Investigative Committee proposed collecting all investigative powers in one hand (his own department), and this idea then seemed more than realistic. Now, after the defeat, the super-investigation looks like castles in the air from the sensitive investigative dream of Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin. A dream that will never come true.
As Kommersant learned, the head of the internal security department (USB) of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Lamonov, who is one of the defendants in a high-profile criminal case of corruption in the Investigative Committee, appealed open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The colonel insists that he is an “honest officer” and asks the head of state to look into his criminal prosecution for accepting a bribe from thief in law Zakhary Kalashov (Shakro Molodoy).
As Alexander Lamonov’s lawyer Olga Lukmanova told Kommersant, the letter to Vladimir Putin has already been sent to the presidential administration. In his appeal (available to Kommersant), Mr. Lamonov points out: from the words of the FSB investigative department officers leading his criminal case, he knows that the investigation is under the control of the president, and therefore he decided to turn to the head of state. Colonel Lamonov specifically notes that he does not ask for any leniency, but hopes only for “objectivity and justice.” It should be noted that, despite almost a year spent in custody, Alexander Lamonov is still an active ICR officer who regularly transfers his salary.
According to Alexander Lamonov, operatives from the M department of the FSB, which specializes in the fight against corruption and is now responsible for the operational support of a high-profile criminal case, “visited him repeatedly” in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. They allegedly demanded that the prisoner confess guilt, “conclude a pre-trial cooperation agreement and testify against other persons.” Mr. Lamonov does not specify who exactly he was supposed to testify against, but, obviously, we're talking about about his accomplices: the former immediate supervisor - the head of the main department of interdepartmental cooperation and internal security of the ICR, Mikhail Maksimenko, and the deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR for Moscow, Denis Nikandrov, who are also in custody.
Mr. Lamonov claims that if he refused to cooperate, the security officers promised to initiate new criminal cases against him, and if he agreed, they would soften his conditions of detention or even release him from the pre-trial detention center. The officer with 25 years of experience in law enforcement agencies refused the proposed cooperation scheme. At the same time, Mr. Lamonov offers his version of the events surrounding Shakro Molodoy and the bribery case. According to him, at the end of 2015, shortly after the shootout near the Elements restaurant on Rochdelskaya Street with the participation of Shakro’s people, ex-Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yevgeny Surzhikov came to him. According to Alexander Lamonov, Mr. Surzhikov previously tried to get a job in the Investigative Committee. However, despite state awards and participation in hostilities, he was not hired because the candidate failed a polygraph test. During the visit, Mr. Surzhikov spoke about the conflict on Rochdelskaya, during which he was present, but did not take part in the shootout (the ex-officer is now under investigation for extorting money from the owner of the restaurant).
“After his story, I became interested in this situation - why one side is under arrest, and the other side is under house arrest, although they also participated in all this, killed two people and injured several more,” writes Alexander Lamonov. According to him, he reported this to Mikhail Maksimenko and his deputy Nikolai Volkov, emphasizing that “the situation is dishonest, corruption is possible.” At the same time, Mr. Lamonov received information that FSB officers and some civilians contacted the leadership of the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR and even the head of the ICR, Alexander Bastrykin, asking not to be sent to a pre-trial detention center former employee law enforcement agencies, lawyer Eduard Budantsev, who represented the interests of the thief in law’s opponents in the conflict on Rochdelskaya. As a result, Budantsev, accused of murder, ended up under house arrest, while his opponents from the Shakro group ended up in a pre-trial detention center.
“I received information from different sources,” explained the head of the Internal Security Service, noting that the leadership of the capital’s main headquarters of the Investigative Committee was warned that in the case of a shootout it was necessary to strictly adhere to the framework of the law. At the same time, he soon became aware that someone was “leaking information on the conduct of investigative actions to certain intermediaries, probably from the criminals (Shakro Molodoy’s people.- “Kommersant”)". According to Mr. Lamonov, during one of his meetings with Denis Nikandrov, he asked if it was possible to change the investigator in the case, to which he replied that he had already been changed, and the investigation was transferred to another department. Later, the head of the CSS allegedly learned that Zakhary Kalashov’s people were trying, through their connections in the Investigative Committee, to “resolve the issue for money” about the release of the “authority” from Shakro Molodoy’s entourage, Andrei Kochuykov (Italian), who participated in the shooting at the restaurant. “I began to suspect all the leaders of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee who were involved in this case,” wrote Mr. Lamonov, noting that he tried to get information from Mikhail Maksimenko, but “he knew nothing.” At the same time, the boss told him that he had gone to the leadership of the “M” unit of the FSB and complained that their employees were putting pressure on the investigation. At the same time, Colonel Maksimenko allegedly offered to “step away from the case”, since the FSB officers were “offended.” Soon, Alexander Lamonov, according to his version, learned that a certain intermediary named Dima wanted to transfer money to investigators for the release of Italian. The head of the CSS remembered that Mikhail Maksimenko had such an acquaintance, and became suspicious of him.
“To get information on this situation, I decided to provoke Maksimenko into a conversation by misleading him that they allegedly gave me money,” explained Mr. Lamonov. The conversation took place and was even recorded. Perhaps this recording is now being used by participants in the investigation against ICR officers - the FSB does not comment on this case. Later, Alexander Lamonov admitted to the boss of the provocation, saying that there was no money and he did not communicate with Denis Nikandrov on such topics. In response, Mikhail Maksimenko scolded the head of the Internal Security Service, telling him that let the FSB operatives sort out the situation. “I am an honest officer and did not commit the crime of which they are trying to accuse me,” says Colonel Lamonov.
Let us recall that Messrs. Maksimenko, Lamonov and Nikandrov were arrested on charges of receiving a bribe of €500 thousand from Zakhary Kalashov in July 2016. None of them admitted their guilt. However, subsequently, as Kommersant reported, Mikhail Maksimenko was charged with receiving several more bribes, but from other persons.
News, 14:43 04/20/2018
© RAPSI
Ex-head of the ICR Internal Security Service Maksimenko received 13 years in prison for corruption
Context
MOSCOW, April 20 — RAPSI, Nikolay Merkulov.
“Found Maksimenko guilty of receiving two bribes and sentence him to imprisonment for a term of 13 years in a maximum security colony and a fine of 165 million rubles,” said judge Oleg Muzychenko.
The court also deprived Maksimenko of the rank of colonel of justice and the right to hold positions civil service for 3 years.
During the debate between the parties, the prosecution asked that Maksimenko be sentenced to 15 years in prison in a maximum security colony with a fine of 165 million rubles.
Accusation
Maksimenko was detained in the summer of 2016 along with two other high-ranking employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation - the deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow, General Denis Nikandrov, and the deputy head of the Internal Security Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Lamonov. All three were accused of receiving a bribe in the amount of 500 thousand euros from the alleged thief in law Zakhary Kalashov, also known in the criminal world as Shakro Molodoy. According to the investigation, for this money, high-ranking investigators were supposed to soften the charges and facilitate the release from the pre-trial detention center of another alleged “criminal authority” - Andrei Kochuykov, nicknamed “Italian”.
Subsequently, a second criminal case was opened against Maksimenko for receiving a bribe in the amount of 500 thousand dollars, which was separated into separate proceedings and sent to court. The briber on this charge was Oleg Sheykhametov, an entrepreneur associated with the restaurant business.
Maksimenko was also accused of receiving a bribe in the amount of 50 thousand dollars from St. Petersburg businessman Badri Shengelia, for which, according to the prosecution, the ex-head of the ICR Internal Security Service was supposed to help initiate a criminal case against St. Petersburg police officers for the theft of the entrepreneur’s expensive watch.
According to the indictment, Maksimenko committed two crimes under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale) from entrepreneurs Sheykhametov and Shengelia.
The debate between the parties took place behind closed doors.
High-ranking witnesses
During the consideration of the criminal case on the merits, the court read out Sheykhametov’s testimony, which confirmed the prosecution’s version of the transfer of 500 thousand dollars for the release from the Italian pre-trial detention center.
The court also questioned Maksimenko’s former colleagues - former deputy ex-head of the Internal Security Service of the ICR Lamonov, who entered into a pre-trial agreement, and General Nikandrov. During the consideration of the case, testimony was also heard from other high-ranking investigators.
In March, the court questioned as a witness the head of the Moscow headquarters of the Investigative Committee, Alexander, who denied the possibility of Maksimenko’s participation in the corruption scheme for the release of Kochuykov from the pre-trial detention center.
“He had no authority, since any action in this case was endorsed by the FSB. How do you imagine this?” Drymanov said.
Defense position
Maksimenko did not admit the charge of accepting bribes, saying that he considered it an official admission of his former deputy Lamonov of receiving a bribe from Sheykhametov.
According to Maksimenko, he conducted a secret check, talking with other investigators on this matter.
Maksimenko also denied the accusation in the second episode, as well as the words of the head of ORCh No. 5 of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg, Roman Polozayev, about the desire of the accused to control the activities of the St. Petersburg Investigative Committee.
Maksimenko’s defense and the accused himself asked the court to issue an acquittal, since there is no evidence in the case of the involvement of the former head of the ICR’s Internal Security Service in committing crimes. Maksimenko said that the case file does not contain evidence that he received bribes, no money was found on him, and he would not have been able to spend such a significant amount so quickly. Opportunity to get cash from Shengelia, according to the defense, was refuted by billing mobile phone and the lack of meetings of the accused in St. Petersburg.
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The Moscow City Court sentenced the former head of the Internal Security Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee, Mikhail Maksimenko, to 13 years in prison and a fine of 165 million rubles for receiving bribes on an especially large scale, a RAPSI correspondent reports from the courtroom.
14:43 20.04.2018
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