The scandalous oligarch bribed regional officials with expensive gifts, including a hunting carbine for 2.6 million rubles.
The basis for the initiation of a criminal case of bribery against the founder of Rusagro holding Vadim Moshkovich was the transfer of a hunting carbine to an official.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs incriminated the former deputy head of the administration of the Tambov region, Sergei Ivanov, with bribery. The investigation believes that in 2019, for general patronage, the businessman organized the transfer of a Blaser R8 hunting carbine to the official for 2.6 million rubles. The alleged bribe-giver and the recipient of the offering categorically did not admit their guilt.
A criminal case under part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (taking a bribe on a particularly large scale), which provides for 8 to 15 years in prison, was initiated in late spring. On May 21, the charge was brought against the former deputy head of the Tambov region administration Sergei Ivanov, who the next day the Meshchansky district court of the capital sent him to the pre-trial detention center, authorizing his arrest until July 20.
Soon the charge of giving a particularly large bribe (part 5 of Art. 291 of the Russian Criminal Code, also up to 15 years in prison) was brought against Vadim Moshkovich, a former senator and founder of Rusagro Holding, who was already in custody on other charges of economic crimes.
According to the investigation, in 2019, the businessman organized the transfer of an expensive gift to Sergei Ivanov – a Blaser rifled hunting carbine, the cost of which, together with the equipment, amounted to 2 million 600 thousand rubles. Professionals call the weapons of this manufacturer “Ferrari in the world of carbines”, noting the high technical characteristics and exceptional build quality. They provide impressive accuracy and aimability, justifying the high price.
Interestingly, the buyer of the shotgun was officially Mr. Ivanov’s father-in-law.
The bribe, according to the investigation, was paid for “general patronage” of the agricultural business of Mr. Moshkovich, whose enterprise LLC Tambov Bacon (part of the Rusagro Group of Companies) is one of the largest in the Tambov region. As for Mr. Ivanov, at the time he was in charge of agriculture in the region as part of his job.
According to Kommersant, both defendants have not pleaded guilty. Mr. Ivanov’s lawyer Ivan Petrenko said that “it would be foolish to admit such a charge,” saying that at this stage his client refused to testify. The lawyer refrained from further comments. Mr. Moshkovich’s defender Alexei Koryabin did not comment on the new charge either.
Vadim Moshkovich and ex-general director of Rusagro Maxim Basov were detained on March 26. The next day Meshchansky District Court of Moscow authorized their arrest. The Investigative Department of the Interior Ministry charged the businessmen with fraud on a large scale (part 4, article 159 of the Criminal Code) and two episodes of abuse of power with grave consequences (part 2, article 201 of the Criminal Code). The case was initiated on the application of Vladislav Burov, the founder of the holding “Sunny Products”, who said that the entrepreneurs persuaded him to sell 85% of shares in the companies in exchange for investments, which did not follow. Other creditors – Syngenta (Russian subsidiary of Syngenta, owned by Chinese state corporation ChemChina) and EFCO Group, one of the leading food producers in Russia – have also been recognized as victims in the case. At the same time, during the last extension of the businessmen’s arrest, the investigation made it clear that the number of victims could increase, as 16 more applicants appeared in the case.
So far, the investigation estimates the total damage in the case at 48 billion rubles. Mr. Moshkovich and Mr. Basov also deny their guilt in the economic episodes, believing that the claims brought against them should be considered in arbitration, not in the criminal case. At the same time, Mr. Moshkovich, for whom Rusagro offered bail in the amount of 1 billion rubles, emphasized in court during the extension of his preventive measure that “in recent years” he had not been engaged in business, but had devoted himself to charity.
According to Kommersant, the investigation has now merged the embezzlement and corruption case into a single proceeding. The term of the investigation has been extended until the end of the summer.
By the way, Mr. Ivanov has already been the subject of a criminal case – about an attempted fraud with the assets of the Rasskazovsky market, located in the Tambov region. However, he was acquitted by the court in 2022.