The Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) has completed an investigation into the criminal case of the former director of the Department of Property Management and Investment Policy of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation Boris Mazo.
A former official accused of embezzling over 800 million rubles during the construction and restoration of Hermitage objects in 2015-2016 was extradited from Austria to Russia. Mazo and his lawyer are reviewing the investigation materials while the Moscow City Court has extended his arrest for another three months. He denies his guilt.
The Moscow City Court considered the investigation team's request to extend Boris Mazo's arrest as expected. The team insisted on the extension, citing serious accusations and the risk of Mazo fleeing or engaging in criminal activities. They also mentioned that Mazo had previously hid abroad and asked for political asylum, but Austria eventually extradited him to Russia last year.
Boris Mazo, who spent a year in custody, stated in court that he had no intention to flee, as law enforcement officers had taken away all his documents during extradition. He requested a change to house arrest, supported by his lawyer who highlighted Mazo's poor health and earlier move to Austria for treatment before the criminal case started. Moreover, they mentioned that the law allows house arrest for the charges against Mazo.
Nevertheless, Judge Alexandra Kovalevskaya sided with the investigation and extended Mazo’s arrest for three more months.
The defense argued that the investigation has been delaying the process of reviewing the case materials, as the accused and his defense have only managed to review six out of 80 volumes, a position the judge found valid.
Recall, according to investigators, in 2015, former Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov created a criminal group, which included several people, including Boris Mazo, as well as the head of the Rospan group of companies, Nikita Kolesnikov, who is engaged in the construction business. The purpose of the perpetrators, according to the investigation, was the theft of budgetary funds in the amount of more than 916 million rubles allocated for the construction of a complex of buildings and the Hermitage storage facility under a state contract concluded by the museum and MekhStroyTrans LLC, controlled by Nikita Kolesnikov. In 2015-2016, the investigation calculated, the criminal group managed to steal 800 million rubles. The trial in the case of alleged accomplices of Boris Mazo is already underway in the city court of Krasnogorsk near Moscow.
According to the lawyer Vladislav Musiyaka, who is going to appeal the decision of the Moscow City Court, Boris Mazo, “the investigation is actually holding hostage the results of the verdict of the Krasnogorsk City Court, which is considering the case of former Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov and others.” The lawyer added that the evidence contained in the criminal case was “sucked out of thin air.” At the same time, Mr. Musiyaka noted, during the extradition, Austria imposed a ban on bringing charges against Boris Mazo under Part 3 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and part 4 of Art. 174.1 (creation of a criminal community, as well as legalization of criminal proceeds on an especially large scale), although the investigation was going to do this.
