The ex-director of the subsidiary of Russian Helicopters, who became deputy chairman of the government of Buryatia, was convicted of embezzling 67.7 million rubles from an aircraft factory.
In Novosibirsk, a court sentenced Aleksey Mishenin, former deputy chairman of the government of Buryatia, to four years of probation. He was accused of organizing the theft of 67 million rubles at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Repair Plant (NARP) during his time as the plant's head from 2011 to 2015. Mishenin confessed and agreed to cooperate, which entitled him to certain sentencing benefits.
The Zaeltsovsky District Court of Novosibirsk reviewed a criminal case on large-scale theft at NARZ (part of the Russian Helicopters holding) on Thursday. In 2020, the Federal Security Service of the Novosibirsk Region initiated an investigation into a 2016 contract between NARP and Aerotech for technological documentation development for the repair of Mi-171 Sh helicopters, valued at 67.7 million rubles. It was revealed that the contract was fake, as all the work was actually executed by NARP employees while Aerotech received the payment. This led to a criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (misappropriation or embezzlement on an especially large scale).
Former NARP director Alexei Mishenin was arrested in December 2020 for his alleged involvement in the criminal scheme. He was serving as deputy chairman of the government of Buryatia at the time and was put under house arrest in Novosibirsk. The head of the republic, Alexei Tsydenov, dismissed him from his role. Another six people, including Mishenin’s successor as NARP director, Yuri Lipatnikov, were also implicated in the investigation.
An investigation by the Novosibirsk FSB revealed that the stolen money had been withdrawn.
After paying all the commissions, the individuals involved in the theft were left with 60 million rubles, and Mishenin allegedly took three-quarters of this amount, according to the case.
Mishenin admitted to the charges and struck a deal with the prosecutor’s office, hoping for a reduced sentence. He cooperated with authorities and testified against his alleged accomplices. His case was separated and processed in a special manner in court, without the usual examination of evidence and witness interrogation.
Kommersant.Ru, 12/21/2021, “Helicopters flew into the case”: According to sources familiar with the investigation, Mishenin confessed and made a cooperation agreement in exchange for a lighter sentence. By fulfilling the terms of the agreement, he provided detailed information about the criminal schemes and implicated other participants in the theft. This contributed to his release on bail.
According to sources, two additional defendants followed Mishenin’s example by signing cooperation agreements. It was revealed that they fully reimbursed the damages, with a significant portion covered by Mishenin.
Assistant district prosecutor Svetlana Levshakova told Kommersant-Siberia that Alexei Mishenin fully complied with the terms of the cooperation agreement. In the debate of the parties, the state prosecution requested four years in a general regime colony for him. Today the defendant made his final statement. “Your Honor, I admit my guilt in full. When sentencing me, I ask you to show humanity and justice. I regret what happened and ask you to give me a chance to return to normal life and appoint a minimum term without real imprisonment, ”the defendant asked the judge and recalled that at the beginning of 2022 he paid the company 10 million rubles. in compensation for damage, and previously transferred the plant 32 million rubles.
Judge Galina Lazareva gave Aleksey Mishenin a four-year suspended sentence. The parties did not comment on the verdict. A similar term was given to the ex-director of NARP, Yuri Lipatnikov, who also agreed to the deal. He was sentenced on January 25th.
