The Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) has completed the investigation of the criminal case against the former head of the customs investigation and inquiry department of the FCS, Lieutenant General Alexander Kizlyk. He is accused of abuse of office. According to the investigation, the general and his subordinates deliberately turned a blind eye to the illegal transportation of large amounts of foreign currency through customs. Now the defendants in the case and their lawyers have to familiarize themselves with the materials of the investigation. In the meantime, on November 10, the court will begin considering the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office to turn the property and funds of Mr. Kizlyk and his wife into the state revenue for more than 121 million rubles. Alexander Kizlyk himself and other defendants do not admit their guilt, and the defense calls the accusation absurd.
The Main Investigation Directorate (GSU) of the TFR has completed the investigation of the criminal case against the former head of the customs investigation and inquiry department of the FCS, Lieutenant General of the Customs Service Alexander Kizlyk, his Deputy Alexey Serebro, Deputy Head of the Vnukovo Customs Office Konstantin Mishin, Deputy Head of the Domodedovo Customs Office Yuri Cherkavin and Senior Investigator Domodedovo Customs by Andrey Shurygin. Now the defendants and their defense will be subject to Art. 217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation to get acquainted with the materials of the investigation, which amount to about 30 volumes. This fact was confirmed to Kommersant by Mr. Serebro's lawyer Marat Fayzullin. The defendants are charged with Part 3 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of office).
In the criminal case, which was opened in December last year, as Kommersant previously reported, there were two episodes from the very beginning, and in the course of the investigation the plot of the accusation practically did not change. According to the investigation, the persons involved in the criminal case "contributed to the release from criminal liability, as well as to a significant underestimation of the administrative fine for persons who illegally moved foreign currency on a large scale, that is, smuggled personal funds."
The first of the episodes concerns the Ryazan businessman Yuri Stepanov, who in April last year tried to smuggle more than € 316,000 through the Vnukovo customs.
According to the investigation, Mr. Kizlyk contributed to the illegal termination of the criminal prosecution of the entrepreneur under Art. 200.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal movement of cash across the customs border of the Customs Union on an especially large scale) with a replacement for an administrative one, which was closed after Mr. Stepanov contributed a quarter of the illegally imported money to the budget. The main part of the sum, according to the investigation, was returned to the businessman thanks to the intervention of high-ranking customs officers. According to some reports, the testimony of Mr. Stepanov also became part of the prosecution's plot.
In the second episode, we are talking about the refusal to initiate proceedings against the wife of the Russian Ambassador to Kenya, who did not declare more than $ 50 thousand when importing into Russia.
At the end of last year, Messrs. Kizlyk, Serebro, Mishin and Cherkashin were arrested by the decision of the Basmanny Court of the capital, and house arrest was appointed to Mr. Shurygin as a preventive measure. Subsequently, the period of validity of the measure of restraint was extended more than once.
The persons involved in the case do not admit their guilt.
Mr. Serebro's lawyer Marat Fayzullin called the criminal prosecution of his client absurd. According to Mr. Fayzullin, the FCS officers brought businessman Yuri Stepanov to administrative responsibility within the framework of the current legislation. “The entrepreneur tried to export more than € 316,000 through the Vnukovo customs office without a declaration, allegedly to purchase real estate. For this, according to the law, he had to pay a fine to the treasury in the amount of 1/4 of the amount of exported currency. This amounted to 5.8 million rubles. And that was done. The decision on administrative punishment was made taking into account the fact that Stepanov was brought to justice for the first time and the incident did not have negative consequences for the state, ”the lawyer explained. In addition, Mr. Fayzullin noted, in September 2019, the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow, based on the fact that the criminal case against Mr. Stepanov had been terminated, imposed a fine of 50 thousand rubles on him, and this decision entered into force. “The absurdity of the situation lies in the fact, - said the defense lawyer, - that the court's decision is now being charged to customs officers as illegal application of punishment below the lower limit”.
It should be noted that at the end of July, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation applied to the Meshchansky Court of Moscow with a claim to recover the property of Alexander Kizlyk and his wife to the state income in the amount of over 121 million rubles. As the supervisory authority reported, during the audit it was established that Mr. Kizlyk had been in the civil service since 1984, and his wife had not worked for a long time. Accordingly, the salary and teaching activities of Alexander Kizlyk were the only sources of income for the family. “With the total income of the spouses in the period from 2001 to 2019 in the amount of 34.7 million rubles. they purchased and received property worth more than RUB 121 million.