In the Moscow City Court, 160 witnesses were questioned during the trial of a record bribe in Russia, which State Duma deputy Vadim Belousov is accused of receiving.
This was reported to Interfax by the press service of the court.
More than 100 government contracts and related documents were examined in court hearings. The public prosecution, supported by the prosecutor, has completed the presentation of evidence in the case. At the hearing, scheduled for March 28, the defense of the accused will begin presenting evidence. It is assumed that the defendant will tell his version.
In addition to the deputy, the former chief accountant of the Chelyabinsk “First Bakery” Margarita Butakova is also involved in the corruption case. She also intends to testify.
Belousov and Butakova are accused of taking bribes totaling three billion rubles. They face eight to 15 years in prison.
The trial began in the Moscow City Court in January 2021. During the process, the prosecutor revealed the way the defendants received money, in particular, money was transferred to Belousov through his wife and mother-in-law. According to investigators, two entrepreneurs engaged in road construction – Konstantin Ovchinnikov and Alexei Bashaev – from 2010 to 2014 transferred cash as a reward to Belousov and his patron Mikhail Yurevich, who at that time was the governor of the Chelyabinsk region. They were given “the most favorable conditions for concluding state contracts” and “complete elimination of competition” in exchange for 20 percent of the profits.
