The case of extortion of her husband Kandelaki and billionaire Avdolyan was transferred to court
As it became known to Kommersant, a criminal case of extortion of more than 23.5 million rubles has come to the court. The top manager of Rostec Vasily Brovko, general director of PJSC Rosseti Andrei Ryumin and founder of Yota Albert Avdolyan. The journalist Eduard Schurenkov, passing on it, fully pleaded guilty, while his alleged accomplice of businessman Anton Safonov categorically rejected the prosecution. The defense of the latter announced the falsification of the indictment, the size of which under the curtain of the investigation increased almost three times.
According to Kommersant, the Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office recently approved the indictment in the criminal case of the CEO of Dijital Soft and Djital Reputelisna Anton Safonov and journalist Eduard Schurenkov. Both of the Main Investigation Department (GSU) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow was charged with extortion on an especially large scale as part of an organized group (part 3 of article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, from 7 to 15 years of detention).
Law enforcement officers blame Mr. Safonov three criminal episodes. So, according to the case materials, together with on the wanted list A business partner, co-founder of Dijal Soft and ex-General Director of the Lenfilm film studio Fedor Shcherbakov is charged with the organization of extortion in 2022 2.2 million rubles. The director of Rostec, according to the special assignments of Vasily Brovko, for the removal of eight posts and further non-use for three months of inaccurate and discrediting top manager and his wife Tina Kandelaki In the Telegram channel, careless. The second episode The publications in the same year of five posts are also about Mr. Brovko in the Telegram channel « Provisional Government » and extorting to him already 1 million 40 thousand rubles. For their removal and installation of the « Bloc on the Negative ».
Finally, The third episode It is associated with the publication in 2021 in the Kremlin Mamkovo and another 11 different different Telegram channels with false and discrediting the head of PJSC Rosseti Andrei Ryumin and his company. From the latter, for removing posts, they demanded 8.7 million rubles. This episode was invited to Mr. Safonov together with the author of publications about the « Rosseti » by Eduard Schurenov. The latter, in addition, was accused of involvement in extortion in 2020 11.5 million rubles. The billionaire Albert Avdolyan, the founder of the Yota communicator operator, for the non-replacement of negative publications in the newspaper Vek and the New Age Telegram channel.
It is worth noting that those who were also held in the criminal case and included, according to the investigation, in the organized group of media manager Stanislav Deineko, as well as the owner of the newspaper « Century » and the New Year Telegram channel Alexander Gusov initially denied guilt.
Later, they agreed with the prosecution, concluding pre -trial agreements on cooperation with the prosecutor’s office and showing other defendants. Now they can count on a significantly milder punishment. Their affairs were allocated to a separate production and sent to the Moscow district courts, which have not yet begun to be consideration. Currently, the defendants are subscribing to the loss.
Another involved in the investigation, journalist Dmitry Zhmutsky, who managed to hide from the investigation, was arrested in absentia.
Eduard Schurenkov, who was charged later, did not take into custody in June 2024. As for Anton Safonov, he is the only one of all who, since his arrest (October 23, 2023) is still in custody. He categorically denies his guilt.
In turn, the defense of Mr. Safonov claims that, « not being able to collect evidence of his guilt, » the investigation, « in order to achieve the approval of the indictment, went to service forgery. » In the complaint (at the disposal of “Kommersant”) the lawyer of businessman Vladimir Slashchev, the other day sent to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Moscow prosecutor Igor Zhuk and the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, he indicates that it all started on October 10, 2024, when his client was charged with the final version. On that day, the investigator invited the arrested to get acquainted and sign two exactly the same decisions on attracting as the accused on 41 sheet, explaining this to “official necessity”.
After that, within six months, Mr. Safonov, Mosgorsud, twice extended the term of arrest as part of this prosecution.
When on April 11, the Moscow prosecutor’s office approved the indictment in the case, it turned out, the lawyer reports in the complaint that it has already compiled 142 sheets and contains a completely different description of crimes.
“Safonov did not give testimonies on the merits of this accusation and did not defend against such an accusation,” the defense complaint says. As Mr. Slashchev noted, the investigation still took Anton Safonov, together with Fedor Shcherbakov, the role of the organizers of extortion, however, « added a number of facts and circumstances that did not appear in the criminal case. »
“Thus, Safonov, over the past six months, was deprived of the opportunity to know what he was accused of and defend himself from a new prosecution,” said a lawyer who announced a gross violation of the right to defense. He argues that “the facts of falsifications and the seizure of the accusation from the previous plot are noticeable by the naked eye,” since investigators corrected time on a number of protocols of investigative actions. At the same time, according to Mr. Slashchev, the “similar signs of the forge of the prosecution” are seen in the plot of the second person involved – Eduard Schurenkov. “If you believe the documents, he got acquainted with a new accusation of 80 sheets in just three minutes, after which he pleaded guilty,” the lawyer said. He believes that the actions of investigators of the GSU of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow contain signs of abuse of authority (part 3 of article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Lawyer Slashchev asks the prosecutor’s office to send materials to the investigating authorities to resolve the issue of bringing the Main Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Main Directorate to criminal liability, as well as withdraw the case of Mr. Safonov from the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow in order to overtake the defendant, « give an opportunity to understand him and collect evidence of innocence. »
Mr. Safonov himself, during the extension of the arrest, repeatedly stated that he did not make sense to extort 12 million rubles, since the two IT companies created by him 15 years ago brought him “sufficient income”, and therefore “you need to be a completely crazy person in order to demand from someone a sum less than my official salary”.
It is interesting that the defense of the “telegrams” who passes in other cases is also claimed about the “bonds” – retired FSB Colonel Mikhail Polyakov, translator Denis Savinsky and entrepreneur Alexander Sanin. Their They are accused In extortion of 42.5 million rubles. One of the largest Russian IT companies « Lanin ». Their business, like the matter of Mr. Safonov, also led the 8th department of the investigation of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
As it became known to Kommersant, in this case, getting acquainted with 159 volumes, the lawyers of the defendants instead of a 14-page final prosecution found a new document on 75 sheets, which was also not presented, as they say.
“At the same time, it turned out almost a year later that the old decisions on attracting as the accused were canceled on July 3, 2024, which the defense was not notified,” said Kommersant’s lawyer Anastasia Shelyashkova. She said that she filed appropriate complaints and statements to the competent authorities, but she refused more detailed comments.
