The former official is charged with the creation and participation in the activities of an organized criminal community, as well as fraud and money laundering.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation approved the indictment and sent the case of former Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov and other defendants to the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow for consideration. Depending on the role of each, they are charged with the following articles:
article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Creation of a criminal community”);
Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud on an especially large scale”);
paragraphs “a” and “b” of part 4 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Money Laundering”);
article 204 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Commercial bribery”);
article 289 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Illegal participation in business activities”).
Mikhail Abyzov is accused of creating and participating in the activities of an organized criminal community, as well as fraud and money laundering. According to investigators, he and his accomplices stole 4 billion rubles from two regional energy companies – OJSC Siberian Energy Company and OJSC Regional Electric Networks. Abyzov withdrew this money abroad, to accounts in an offshore structure affiliated with him.
At the moment, the property of Mikhail Abyzov and other defendants, as well as companies controlled by him, has been seized in order to compensate for the damage caused in the amount of more than 37 billion rubles.
In September last year, the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow, following a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, ruled to recover $22 million from Mikhail Abyzov. In addition, as part of the same case, Alfa-Bank was ordered to pay 30.8 million dollars and 5.9 billion rubles.
As the supervisory agency found out, Abyzov invested illegally obtained income in the amount of $115 million at interest in the project of the TON blockchain platform of the Telegram messenger, but it was never implemented, so the money of the ex-minister with a 10% income is 126.5 million dollars – should have been returned to him.
