Sergei Kolodyazhny paid himself 58 million rubles and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The former rector of Voronezh State Technical University was sentenced by Leninsky District Court on January 23rd. Sergei KolodyazhnyThe crime was reclassified and Sergei Kolodyazhny was convicted of large-scale fraud, leading to a 5-year prison sentence and a 1 million ruble fine.
Sergei Kolodyazhny was arrested in March 2020 on suspicion of taking a bribe and has been under house arrest since October 2021. Before that, he spent 1.5 years in a pre-trial detention center.
The former rector was accused of giving higher bonuses to his subordinates and keeping some money for himself. He denied this, claiming the 58 million rubles were taken from elsewhere.
The trial of Sergei Kolodyazhny began on December 14, 2022, with the prosecution requesting an 8-year prison sentence.
The defense plans to challenge the verdict.
Sergei Kolodyazhny's time in custody and house arrest during the investigation and trial will be counted towards his sentence. According to Kommersant’s calculations, 2.5 years will be credited to him. The court kept the defendant's car (Ford) and previously seized cash (2.4 million rubles and over $1,000).
The judge also dismissed the civil suit of the prosecutor, who asked to recover from Sergei Kolodyazhny all bonuses allegedly received by him. The reasons for this decision due to the non-disclosure of the reasoning part of the verdict are unknown.
