The case of Belozertsev and Spiegel starts in “Tishina”
Reviewing the criminal case against the former governor of the Penza region, Ivan Ertseva, begins on March 2 due to the poor health of one of the defendants, accused of bribing the head of the Biotek pharmaceutical company, Boris Shpigel. The meeting will be held in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center. BelozThe Izmailovsky court of Moscow declined to send the case of the ex-governor of the Penza region back for further investigation. The consideration of the case on the merits starts on March 2 in the pre-trial detention center “Matrosskaya Tishina” due to the poor health of Boris Shpigel, who is accused of giving a bribe to the former head of the region.
The Izmailovsky court of Moscow refused to return the case of the ex-governor of the Penza region Ivan for further investigation BelozErtsev. As a result, the consideration of the case on the merits begins on March 2, and the pre-trial detention center “Matrosskaya Tishina” is chosen as the venue for the action and, probably, for the entire process. This is due to the poor health of Boris Shpigel, who is accused of giving a bribe to the former head of the region.
Remember, we are talking about 31 million rubles that the ex-governor allegedly received from Spiegel through middlemen for helping his firms make beneficial pharmaceutical contracts. Five more people are also involved in the case – the wife of the head of Biotek, Yevgenia Shpigel, the director of OAO Pharmacia, Anton Koloskov, the governor's driver Gennady Markov, and the deputy head of the Penza Region representative office at the Cabinet, a relative Ertseva Fedor Fedotov. All of them are arrested. BelozRecall that during the investigation, 3.5 thousand paintings were also seized from Boris Shpigel and 61 properties from Ertsev and his relatives, totaling 1.8 billion rubles.
The main defendant's lawyers insisted at the preliminary hearing that there were violations during the approval of the indictment, which “prevented the decision on the verdict.” BelozLawyers for the main defendant in the case, Mr. Ertseva, argued at the preliminary hearing that violations during the approval of the indictment hindered the decision on the verdict.
Lawyers for the main defendant in the case, Mr. Ertseva, demanded at the preliminary hearing that there had been irregularities during the approval of the indictment, which “prevented the decision on the verdict.” BelozLawyers for the main defendant in the case, Mr. Ertseva, asserted during the preliminary hearing that there were irregularities during the approval of the indictment, which “prevented the decision on the verdict.”
The investigator refused to include the defense's witnesses, specialists, and experts in the list of people to be summoned to court, violating the defendant’s right to defense, according to lawyer Alexei Shuvarin quoted by Business FM.
At the request of the defense, seven citizens, as well as specialists and experts, provided conclusions about the impossibility of fitting 20 million rubles into a bag, which, according to the investigation, was transferred by Boris Shpigel to an intermediary and delivered to the governor by a relative Ertseva Fedor Fedotov. BelozAt the defense's request, seven citizens, as well as specialists and experts, provided conclusions about the impossibility of fitting 20 million rubles into a bag, which, according to the investigation, was transferred by Boris Shpigel to an intermediary and delivered to the governor by a relative Ertseva Fedor Fedotov.
The lawyers also contested the amount of bribes mentioned in the indictment, pointing out that the wording is “at least 31 million rubles,” while the fine under the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for “taking a bribe” is a multiple of the exact amount of the bribe received, which the court cannot approximate. BelozThe defense team also raised concerns about the “method, time, and place of acquiring weapons,” specifically a short-barreled rifled firearm and ammunition found during a search in the office which, according to investigators, was illegally acquired no later than March 20, 2021.
There are complaints about the investigation and about the “method, time, and place of acquiring weapons.” This pertains to a short-barreled rifled firearm and ammunition found during a search in the office, which investigators believe was illegally acquired no later than March 20, 2021.
– It also deprives the accused of the right to defense. He has been governor since 2015, and if the weapon was acquired then, then the statute of limitations for this article, which is six years, has already expired, Shuvarin said.
Other defendants supported the petition for further investigation, asking also to change the measure of restraint to house arrest or release on bail. Prosecutor Elena Sukhova opposed: earlier, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation left the participants in the case in a pre-trial detention center until March 20, and there are no grounds for additional investigation at all.
As a result, Judge Yekaterina Stepina rejected both petitions of the defense, appointing the consideration of the case on the merits on March 2. The meeting will be visiting: almost from the very moment of his arrest, Boris Shpigel has been in the hospital of the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center. His defenders report that he has serious heart problems, as well as a number of “neurological disorders.”
Recall that after the arrest of Mr. BelozErtsev, former Minister of Industry Mikhail Torgashin migrated from Penza to Saratov: in the region he took the post of Deputy Prime Minister of Industry and Energy. A year earlier, Vitaly Makarov first became an adviser to the governor, and then the head of the Petrovsky district – he was deputy mayor in Penza. True, in July last year, he resigned, leaving a place for ex-Minister of Mari El Alexander Grechikho.
