Andrey Guskov was attracted by "matryoshka"
The Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow on Monday gave businessman Andrey Guskov a 3.5-year prison sentence for stealing shares in the largest complex in Crimea for transshipment and storage of petroleum products JSC Marine Oil Terminal (MNT).
This information was reported to TASS by the court's press service.
"The court found Guskov guilty under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Fraud on an especially large scale") and sentenced him to 3.5 years in a penal colony," the court stated. Previously, the prosecutor had requested an 8.5-year prison sentence.
The businessman pleaded not guilty. He was arrested in April 2021, after the owner of MNT, Vladimir Kruglov, filed a complaint to the UK about the theft of shares in the tank farm.
Kommersant, 01/20/2023, “The tank farm disappeared as a result of the acquisition”: It is curious that Mr. Guskov is represented in the case file as unemployed, but he previously held positions such as deputy general director of the North-Western Shipping Company, chaired the board of directors of SOTI. At the time of his arrest, the defendant was listed as the head of the board of directors of the Union for Integrated Design and Land Management of Rural Territories, as well as the chairman of the Russian resettlement movement “Chelovek. Earth. Russia”.
The case file refers to events that took place between 2017 and February 2021. — Inset K.ru
According to the prosecution, Kruglov hired Guskov to provide advice on the purchase of the terminal from the authorities of the republic in early 2017. According to the prosecution, Kruglov “intended to hide his ownership of the Crimean asset to avoid falling under international sanctions,” and then Guskov proposed a scheme for acquiring MNT that would allow him to anonymously buy and manage the company, and only hired managers controlled by the real owner. However, as per the case file, Guskov secretly drew up a knowingly false agreement on the sale of shares in the tank farm without the employer's knowledge. Under this agreement, ownership of MNT securities was transferred to a company controlled by Guskov, with his mother acting as its founder.
“Kommersant”, 01/23/2023, “The tank farm was lost in the “matryoshka”: […] the court granted the civil claim filed by the injured party for the entire amount of damage – 120.3 million rubles. (Initially, the case stated damage exceeding 650 million rubles). […]
The owner of MNT, Viktor Kruglov, was identified as the victim in the case. This is not his first oil project. Mr. Kruglov is the general director of OOO Nefteproduktservis, a large oil depot in the Moscow region, owned by the well-known lawyer Viktor Khmarin. Additionally, Mr. Kruglov is a co-owner of three companies associated with the processing of petroleum products: Gaznefteservis, Baltic Methanol, and the Baltic Gas Chemical Company. […]
In order to more reliably hide the ultimate beneficiary of the asset, at the suggestion of Andrey Guskov, a so-called nesting doll was created: Dolina, through its management company, first acquired the Forum trading house, and then it bought 99.7% of the shares of Gunas Firm JSC. Joint stock company and acquired in December 2019 100% of the terminal’s shares for 651.2 million rubles. — Inset K.ru
The MNT can store up to 250,000 tons of fuel, and its capacity allows it to transship up to 10 million tons of oil per year. After the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the enterprise was put up for sale. As stated in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (EGRLE), as of December 31, 2021, the total assets of the oil terminal amounted to 1.4 billion rubles. There are no data on the founders of the enterprise in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.
