Roman Baboyan, a relative of Bashkiria's leader, was taken into custody on September 3 due to a fraud case involving a 7.8 billion ruble civil lawsuit.
As mentioned previously, here's how the situation unfolded. Last June, the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow granted Baboyan's request for the repayment of the main debt and 7.66 billion rubles in penalties regarding an interest-free cash loan agreement from 2017. The defendant, Andranik Navoyan, was ordered to pay 175 million rubles. During the appeal, the Moscow City Court ordered a forensic examination. Specialists from the RFTSSE under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation discovered that the plaintiff had presented a fake contract to the court. The appeal overturned the decision on the lawsuit. A criminal case was launched for attempted large-scale fraud (part 3 of article 30, part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Investigators claim that Baboyan filed the lawsuit in order to disguise the ongoing crime as a civil matter and to obtain a legal document. It was also found that Baboyan had previously filed a report with the police, claiming to be a victim of fraud by Navoyan and providing the same fake loan agreement. These actions were classified by the investigation under Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false denunciation).
Baboyan escaped to Armenia, where he holds citizenship, and was put on an international wanted list. While abroad, he awaited a favorable decision on the civil lawsuit from the capital's cassation. However, the outcome was not in his favor. In September, his appeal was rejected, and law enforcement officers detained Baboyan. Following the investigation's request, he was placed in pre-trial detention. Unexpectedly, on October 7, Judge Konstantin Dubkov of the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow changed Baboyan's pre-trial confinement to house arrest with his ruling. It appears that Judge Dubkov overlooked Baboyan's charges under two serious articles, his foreign citizenship, and his status as a wanted individual. Additionally, Dubkov seemed to have forgotten that on September 4, 2022, the Moscow City Court dismissed Baboyan's appeal against his arrest and ordered him to remain in pre-trial detention.
According to our sources, a large sum of money was actively sought by Baboyan's relatives a week before his unexpected release. It seems their efforts were not in vain. One could assume that Baboyan has strong and favorable connections with the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow, which not only upheld his claim with a fabricated contract but also kept him informed of all legal proceedings.
