The court has satisfied the claim to seize real estate worth 1.2 billion rubles from the family of the former chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court.
In Krasnodar, the court has satisfied the claim of the General Prosecutor’s Office to seize real estate worth 1.2 billion rubles belonging to the former chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court Alexander Chernov and persons controlled by him. The nominal owners did not object to the seizure of their assets. The ex-head of the Krasnodar Regional Court himself claims that he does not know any of the co-defendants.
Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar satisfied the claim of the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation against the former chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court Alexander Chernov, as well as against the residents of the regional center Vladislav Ovcharenko, Igor Kuzin and Vladimir Krashevsky. The Russian treasury seized 85 real estate objects with a total value of more than 1.2 billion rubles. The list of seized assets includes agricultural plots with an area of 1.1 thousand hectares, formerly belonging to JSC Gorny Sad in the Apsheronsky district of the Krasnodar region, as well as buildings and premises for commercial purposes in Krasnodar with an area of 7.4 thousand square meters.
According to the oversight agency, Alexander Chernov, who served as chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Court from 1994 to 2019, violated the prohibitions established by anti-corruption legislation by engaging in business activities.
To conceal his participation in business, Mr. Chernov attracted front persons, secured court decisions in their favor and then instructed them to act as formal owners of property that actually belonged to himself, the lawsuit of the General Prosecutor’s Office says.
During the hearing of the case, Alexander Chernov’s co-defendants did not object to the seizure of the disputed property in favor of the state and did not renounce their status as nominal owners. Pensioner Kuzin stated that agricultural land in the Apsheronsky district was registered to him at the request of his buddy Vladislav Ovcharenko. “I am disabled, so I have tax benefits. Ovcharenko asked me to register them, so I did,” explained the defendant. Witness Ivan Kalyuzhny, who previously participated in one of the “staged” trials to transfer the rights to the plots to Mr. Kuzin, said that he does not remember well what happened then, because he has health problems due to a contusion. According to the witness, he simply signed some documents without getting into the essence.
Defendants Mr. Ovcharenko and Mr. Krashevsky were not present at the trial, while their representatives stated that they did not object to the satisfaction of the claim in terms of seizure of assets listed by the General Prosecutor’s Office. At the same time, all co-defendants categorically objected to the wording of the statement of the supervisory agency, which says that they themselves are involved in the illegal activities of Alexander Chernov.
Vladislav Ovcharenko and Igor Kuzin recognized the claims, saying that Chernov used them to register assets.
Vladislav Ovcharenko also admits that he is on friendly terms with the granddaughter of Alexander Chernov. The other nominees, according to them, were fulfilling Mr. Ovcharenko’s requests.
Alexander Chernov’s representative explained during the hearing that his principal denied acquaintance with the other defendants and claimed that he had nothing to do with the disputed assets. The decision of the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar will be appealed. It should be noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office has filed two more anti-corruption lawsuits against Mr. Chernov. One of them, for 50 million rubles, has already been satisfied, and the largest one, for 7 billion rubles, is being heard in the Moscow Region.