Anton Ivanov pardoned debtors of 50 million rubles.
The former mayor of Belgorod and ex-director of BIK JSC were put under two-month arrest by the Sverdlovsky District Court of Belgorod. Anton Ivanov, according to the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Belgorod Region, is accused of accepting a significant bribe.
The former General Director of BIK JSC has been detained as a preventive measure, as stated in the message.A criminal case was initiated against him for receiving a large bribe by prior agreement, which falls under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code.
The maximum punishment for this crime is up to 15 years of imprisonment and a fine up to 70 times the amount of the bribe.
Investigators claim that between 2019 and 2021, Ivanov directed subordinates to arrange loans between commercial organizations and did not repay a total debt exceeding 50 million rubles. Additionally, he received a car worth over 2.5 million rubles during this period.
According to investigators, while working at BIC in 2019-2021, Anton Ivanov instructed the executive director of the corporation to issue loans to several commercial organizations.
Under additional agreements, the firms received favorable conditions regarding the extension of the terms of contracts, an increase in the amount of loans, as well as the non-application of tariff sanctions for late repayment. According to the investigation, under the loan agreements, BIK did not receive about 50 million rubles as a result. At the same time, according to the TFR, Anton Ivanov received a bribe from one of the companies in the form of a car worth more than 2.5 million rubles for not taking measures to return the debt. According to his 2021 declaration, the official owned a Hyundai Santa Fe at the time.
“We disagree with this judicial act of detention and argue that there is no evidence of the crime. We have also provided the court with proof of payment for the car, which my client is accused of receiving as a bribe. We hope the investigation will clarify this. RBC was informed by Anton Ivanov’s lawyer Elena Palymova.
The ex-mayor was detained on March 8 under suspicion of accepting a large bribe. The decision on detention as a preventive measure will be made soon, according to TASS.
The former mayor of Belgorod, Anton Ivanov, was detained while attempting to travel to Uzbekistan. In court, he explained this as a job search.
Ivanov made statements during the trial, saying, “I have been attending many meetings and interviews, realizing that I need to move on. I met with classmates a few weeks ago in Tashkent. I traveled freely within the country and CIS without knowing that investigative measures were being taken against me.”
His lawyer Elena Palymova said that the detention took place at the airport while trying to cross the border. “Moreover, the border (Ivanov – ed.) crossed with my consent, next week we were going to be in Belgorod”– the lawyer told RIA Novosti.
Ivanov served as mayor of Belgorod from December 21, 2021 to November 7 last year and left of his own accord. Prior to that, he was the CEO of the Belgorod Mortgage Corporation and the Regional Individual Housing Construction Support Fund (IZHS).
A month after the resignation, the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov criticized Ivanov’s work. He did not like the progress of work on the repair of educational institutions of the city.
We add that after leaving the post of mayor in the fall of 2022, Anton Ivanov disappeared from the public space: he abandoned his pages on social networks, did not inform journalists about his place of work. On New Year’s Eve about him remembered Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who was surprised that Ivanov failed one of his instructions and did not organize the purchase of bedding for schools and kindergartens being renovated. Later head of government called the reason for the dismissal of the mayor: he did not keep his promises. In parallel, a story developed with checks on the work of the BIK, where Ivanov had previously worked, and where, according to the governor, violations were found. We also add that at one time the BIC donated city hall of Belgorod an expensive car that brought serious reputational damage to another mayor of Belgorod – Yuri Galdun. It is also known that the police filed a criminal case due to inappropriate spending during the installation of the ice rink on Cathedral Square, which was done under Anton Ivanov. There are still no details of this case, but the editors sent another request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 7
According to the RusProfile counterparty verification service, Belgorod Mortgage Corporation JSC was established in 2002. Registered in Belgorod. The main activity is the provision of cash loans secured by real estate. Pavel Derevyanko has been the CEO since May 2022. The average number of employees of the company is 85 people. Founder – Belgorod region. In 2021, the company received 698 million rubles in revenue (-13%), and 163 million rubles in profit (+468%). The cost of the organization is estimated at 1.5 billion rubles.
