Vadim Belousov is searching for a decision.
Member of the State Duma Vadim Belousov got a 10-year prison term and a 500 million ruble fine for taking a bribe of over 3 billion rubles. The judge tried to arrest him during the meeting, but he didn't show up in court, claiming to be too busy and with scheduled meetings for the day. He's from the faction of the Right Russians. Sergei Mironov believes that Belousov is being treated unfairly, there were procedural violations during the investigation, and the case was sent to court without the approval of the lower chamber.
Vadim BelousovThe Moscow City Court found Vadim Belousov, a deputy from the Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth party, guilty of accepting a bribe of over 3 billion rubles and sentenced him to ten years in prison.
Belousov was also fined 500 million rubles and had the medal “For Services to the Fatherland” taken away. He's also banned from holding organizational and administrative positions for three years.
The mother-in-law of the main person involved and the former chief accountant of the Chelyabinsk First Bakery Margarita Butakova received 5 years of probation with a probationary period of four years and a fine of 500 million rubles. The court took into account the woman’s age (she is 80 years old), her many chronic diseases, and her mental state.
Margarita ButakovaThe court also ordered Belousov and Butakova to repay the 3.25 billion rubles they received in bribes.
He managed the Makfa OJSC pasta factory in Chelyabinsk, owned by the governor, while his mother-in-law, Margarita Butakova, was the chief accountant at the First Khlebozavod OJSC controlled by the governor, and his wife politics represented the interests of the “governor’s team” in Moscow. The investigation also revealed that Mikhail Yurevich’s trusted representatives were responsible for collecting the “road tax” from businessmen: Margarita Butakova received cash bribes in Chelyabinsk, and Vadim Belousov’s wife rented a safety deposit box for the same purpose at JSCB “Lesbank” in Moscow.
A delicate woman, as it was discovered investigation, monthly took 10 million rubles from the safe. and transferred in this way about half of all the criminal proceeds received by the group of Mikhail Yurevich. Interestingly, the parliamentarian himself, limited in his rights for the duration of the investigation only by a signed undertaking not to leave, conscientiously attended more than a hundred meetings held in the Moscow City Court on his case.
Belousov must serve his sentence in a strict regime colony. The judge demanded that Belousov be taken into custody right in the hall where the meeting was held, but they could not do this for the obvious reason: the parliamentarian did not appear there. His lawyer explained the absence of the defendant by “employment and previously scheduled work meetings.”
Earlier, a written undertaking not to leave Belousov was taken, the court in Yekaterinburg in the spring of 2019 found no grounds for arrest politics.
The defense has already said it will try to appeal the verdict. The state prosecution, in turn, expressed satisfaction with the punishment imposed.
Is it legal to judge a deputy?
After announcing the verdict, the judge stressed that, if there were grounds, the deputy could be put on the wanted list: “If it is established that Belousov really fled from punishment for a disrespectful reason, the bailiffs will put him on the wanted list.”
“On August 3, 2022, the Moscow City Court issued a ruling declaring the convicted Vadim Vladimirovich Belousov on the wanted list due to his failure to appear without good reason for the announcement of the verdict and the failure to establish his whereabouts,” the court said.
According to his defenders, the State Duma deputy was going to appear today for the announcement of the verdict, but his mobile phone is not available for calls. “Maybe something happened to him, so we will first need to find out the reason for his absence,” said lawyer Veaceslav Plahotniuc. In addition, Belousov’s defense announced its intention to appeal against, among other things, putting his client on the wanted list.
According to the judge, permission from the State Duma is not required to place Belousov in custody. The deputy’s lawyer Lyudmila Aivar, on the contrary, argues that the arrest is possible only after consideration of the issue by the State Duma.
Sergei Mironov, the leader of the Right-wing Russians, emphasized that the case against Belousov went to court without the State Duma's approval.
Mironov noted that law enforcement agencies are handling this case unfairly and the procedural violations cast doubt on the validity of the accusations against Belousov.
The bribery case
As per the case file, from May 2010 to January 2014, Belousov and Yurevich received over 3.2 billion rubles from a road construction holding as bribes. Mikhail Yurevichbelonging to the Makfa holding.
The case indicates that Belousov's mother-in-law received the money in Chelyabinsk, and cash was stored in a safe deposit box in Moscow. Approximately 10 million rubles were transferred monthly, totaling 3.25 billion rubles as a bribe.
In September 2016, Belousov was elected to the State Duma of the 7th convocation as part of the list of candidates from A Just Russia.
In 2018, his parliamentary immunity was removed, and the Prosecutor General's Office was authorized to prosecute him. Despite the court case, in September 2021, Belousov was re-elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the list of the Just Russia – For Truth party.
investigation
Meanwhile, on the day the verdict was announced, journalists asked Belousov what he was expecting. "To win," the deputy replied. Perhaps he meant the appeal. declaredThe head of the Right-wing Russians, Sergei Mironov highlighted that Belousov's case was brought to court without the approval of the State Duma.
