Private, smoking, and alcohol under the protection of Evgeny Bykov's network
A lengthy investigation of a criminal case against the former head of the Omsk police in Omsk concluded on Monday, January 23. Evgenia Bykovawas convicted of bribery. The former law enforcement official will serve 10 years in a strict regime prison and has been fined 20 million rubles. The verdict is not yet final.
A correspondent from omsk.aif.ru analyzed the case file to understand how the police officer violated the law.
not a favorable location
A police officer from Novosibirsk assumed a senior position in Omsk on October 8, 2019. On that day, 41-year-old Evgeny Bykov was introduced to the staff Leonid Kolomietswho was then in charge of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Bykov graduated from the Omsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia with a degree in law in 1999. He has been in law enforcement since 1995, starting as a detective and later holding various roles in criminal investigation and public order protection.
The previous head of the Omsk police held his position until the first incident: the former chief of the Omsk police department Alexey Merkushov While in Moscow on July 11, 2019, he was involved in a drunken altercation with a subway depot driver. After the incident received public attention, Merkushov was dismissed from law enforcement.
The next head of the Omsk Ministry of Internal Affairs also left his post: Bykov and his subordinate were caught accepting a bribe.
“The friend paid back the debt”
In April 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Omsk Region initiated a criminal case against the head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Omsk, Evgeny Bykov, and the head of a department within the same ministry Mikhail Lebedev. They were suspected of accepting a large-scale bribe.
According to investigators, Bykov and a subordinate received a bribe through a middleman from a businessman totaling over 3.5 million rubles in exchange for general support and turning a blind eye to entrepreneurial activities. The suspects were caught in the act of receiving the money. A large sum of cash was found in Bykov’s jacket.
According to the case file, Bykov's subordinate, Mikhail Lebedev, and Bykov’s friend, Sergei Pavlov, were involved in giving money to the police colonel. Lebedev entered a pre-trial agreement and was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison with a fine of 100 thousand rubles. The second person who carried money was Bykov’s friend, Sergei Pavlov. Details about how this happened and the nicknames used by Zubkov, Lebedev, and Pavlov during the investigation were provided by a witness in the case.
According to a witness, Mikhailov transferred the money to Bykov and Lebedev, whom he called Gus or Bird in conversations. Mikhailov claimed that the whole amount was split among 3-4 people. He mentioned taking 20-30 thousand rubles for himself. The witness stated that he did not take any money, as Mikhailov informed him that he would receive his share after Sergey had advanced his business. The witness emphasized that he never counted this money.
Bykov and Lebedev were taken to court immediately after the arrest and were detained for two months. Subsequently, the court repeatedly extended the detention of the former law enforcement officers.
The investigatory committee completed the investigation of the criminal case in January 2022. Bykov was accused of taking a large bribe, while Lebedev was accused of mediating bribery.
According to the investigation, the police chief received bribes through Lebedev from the owner of a network of “massage” parlors totaling about 6.5 million rubles. Bykov also received a bribe of 480 thousand rubles from another entrepreneur who illegally sold unlabeled alcohol and tobacco products using the same method.
Yevgeny Ivanovich told me that he wants to expand this service industry. When I told Ignatiev about the potential to increase trade turnover – everything was the same, but now with a hotel, a pool, a bathhouse, and a sauna, without any competitors (Bykov promised to deal with them through inspections), he was very interested. He planned to construct a 2 thousand square meter building and asked if I knew any high-ranking officials who could invest,
During the investigation, Lebedev agreed to cooperate and admitted his full guilt. Bykov, on the other hand, admitted to accepting only 100 thousand rubles, which he claimed was not a bribe.
It's worth noting separately Alexandra Ignatieva, who is the owner of the Orange massage parlor network and the founder of Keya-Trade LLC. It was him who gave bribes to the head of the Omsk police.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Ignatiev became the director of Keya-Trade LLC in 2016. The organization's revenue for 2020 was 32 million rubles. 'New Omsk' reports that in 2019 the businessman became the subject of a criminal case under the article for organizing prostitution (part 1 of article 241 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In 2018-2019, the police carried out 'test purchases', confirming the provision of sexual services.
In court, Ignatiev admitted guilt and apologized to the police and hired masseuses. He requested that the criminal case be dropped and that a court fine of no more than 120 thousand rubles be imposed. The court dismissed the criminal case but kept him on bail. The evidence was destroyed. In May 2020, during covid restrictions, salon workers were again fined for providing sexual services under the guise of erotic massage.
Whose funds are these?
On March 4, 2022, the Kirovsky District Court sentenced Mikhail Lebedev to 2.2 years and 9 months in a penal colony and fined him 100,000 rubles. He was also barred from holding positions in state structures for three years.
Based on the income statement, Lebedev earned around 750 thousand rubles per year. At the same time, he drove a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV, which belonged to his mother, a retired federal judge who retained judicial immunity. Lebedev's wife owned a foreign car Toyota Camry.
At this time, the prosecutor’s office of the Omsk region focused on the apartment of Evgeny Bykov’s daughter, which was purchased with unclear income.
In 2020, the daughter of a former law enforcement officer entered into an agreement to purchase a share in a 90 sq.m. apartment worth 5.2 million rubles. At the same time, the girl was a university student and did not have a stable income. The prosecutor’s check revealed that Bykov and his wife did not have legal means to pay the full amount under the contract. The former police officer and his wife tried to claim that most of the money for the share came from relatives and a family friend, but this claim was not verified.
The Bykov family, disagreeing with the seizure of the apartment, filed several appeals. In the end, the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction confirmed the legality of the decision to seize property.
Mikhail Lebedev, counting on leniency in sentencing, concluded a cooperation agreement. Fulfilling his conditions, he pleaded guilty and testified against his former leader Yevgeny Bykov. The trial of Mikhail Lebedev was held separately. In March 2022, he was sentenced to two years and nine months in a general regime colony and a fine of 100,000 rubles.
As it became known to Kommersant, the former policeman was recently released on parole and now works in a commercial company. During the investigation and the trial, the ex-head of the city department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs denied guilt, claiming that witnesses had slandered him.
The collapse of the family
In June 2022, Yevgeny Bykov was to be interrogated as part of a trial in a bribery case. But the meeting was postponed due to the condition of the accused: the ex-silovik got sick right in the courtroom, from where he was taken away by ambulance. In total, Bykov was taken away in an ambulance from the meeting room three times.
On the eve of the announcement of the verdict, it became known that Evgeny Bykov was divorcing his wife Natalya. By BK55 information, she filed for divorce and division of property. Since the seized Kia Sportage car belongs to her, the lawyer of the former head of the Omsk police asked to return the foreign car and the seized flash drives to Natalya, and their daughter’s laptop. However, Bykov himself is more concerned about the confiscated apartment.
The moral of the fable is this: everything secret one day becomes clear. The criminal scheme, which has been working for years, was revealed, and its participants suffered a well-deserved punishment. It remains to be asked why Mr. Bykov and his colleague risked their positions? To get imaginary financial well-being? Reputation after a scandal of this magnitude will not work.
