The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow sentenced Farid Akhverdiyev, the former founder of ZAO Yunkom, in absentia to eight years in prison.
The former director of the Yunost Hotel was found guilty of stealing shares worth 170 million rubles from the capital’s theater “Lenkom”, with which he had a joint business. He had already left for Baku before the criminal case began. However, the damage can be repaid through the sale of his apartment under arrest, estimated at 164 million rubles.
The Moscow police started a criminal case in July 2016 for a large-scale fraud at the Lenkom Theater. It's not directly related to the theater, but rather a dispute over the “Youth” hotel in Moscow, where Farid Akhverdiyev was the director since the 1980s. The hotel was privatized in 1993, and Mark Varshaver allegedly helped Akhverdiyev with this. In return, the theater received 250 shares in CJSC Yunkom, becoming a co-founder of the hotel complex.
However, Lenkom had to give up the shares later, as the Accounts Chamber found it inappropriate for the theater to be involved in commercial activities.
Since then, the parties have had different viewpoints on the situation.
Akhverdiyev claimed that he had fully paid off Lenkom for the shares, while the latter's representatives stated that the former business partner sold the entire block of shares worth almost 415 million rubles without their knowledge.
The investigation initially focused on the entire amount, but the businessman was ultimately charged with embezzling only 170 million rubles, part of the shares owned by the theater. The police found that the defendant forged an agreement on the transfer of 250 shares by abusing the trust of the theater management.
Farid Akhverdiyev was charged in absentia in April 2017 and was put on the international wanted list in May of the same year. He was later arrested in absentia by the Tagansky District Court of Moscow.
In April 2018, Farid Akhverdiyev faced another fraud charge, this time involving the deception of the Singaporean company Etk Invest (S’pore) Pte ltd.
According to the investigation, Akhverdiyev allegedly sold the entire block of shares of Yunkom CJSC to the Singaporean company. However, this case was not discussed in the verdict and might have been handled as a separate proceeding.
During the trial, the state prosecutor requested eight years in a penal colony for Farid Akhverdiyev. The court ultimately sentenced him to this punishment and decided to recover the entire amount of damage caused to the injured party. The damage can be repaid through the sale of a luxurious apartment in Moscow worth 164 million rubles, which was seized in September 2019 after it was revealed that Akhverdiyev allegedly sold the house to his wife in 2018 and it was put up for sale.
