Russian businessman Telman Ismailov was arrested in absentia on suspicion of double murder and illegal turnover of arms. This was reported by RBC press secretary of the Basmanny Court Yunona Tsareva. The court issued a ruling on the measure of restraint for Ismailov on October 30.

"This measure of restraint was elected for a period of two months, which is calculated from the time of Ismailov's extradition to the territory of Russia or from the moment of his detention in Russia," RBC Tsareva said. She added that the court does not know where Ismailov is.

Telman Ismailov is charged with three counts of part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code (killing two or more persons with particular cruelty in the group), as well as part 3 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code of Russia (the illegal turnover of arms committed by an organized group) follows from the materials of the court.

Ismayilov, whose fortune Forbes estimated at $ 800 million in 2012, was declared bankrupt in 2015, with accusations and absentee arrest, said his lawyer Marina Rusakova. According to her, neither the businessman himself nor his defense were notified of the charge and the court for choosing a preventive measure; as a result, a lawyer appointed by the state attended the meeting on his behalf. "Like any citizen of Russia, he could count on the fact that the laws of Russia also apply to him. This did not happen, "said Rusakova.

The information that Ismayilov is hiding from the investigation is untrue, the attorney also pointed out: "Telman presented the investigation with information about where he is, at what address." However, it was this statement of the representatives of the TFR Basmanny Court that motivated the decision on the absentee arrest of Ismailov, Rusakova added. This decision has already been appealed.

Assistant Ismailov in a conversation with RBC also called the charges "stupid."

Murder on the roadside

According to lawyer Rusakova, Telman Ismailov is charged with a double contract murder, which occurred in May 2016 in the Moscow region. Then in the area of ​​the 32-kilometer Novorizhskoe highway were found the bodies of two businessmen - Yuri Brylev and Vladimir Savkin, told RBC a source familiar with the case materials. The founder of the shopping center "Stroymarket" Savkin and the founder of "Lyublino-Motors" Brylev were shot in the SUV Toyota Land Cruiser.

On suspicion of murder, operatives in November 2016 detained Mehman Kerimov and Rafik Ismailov, Telman Ismailov's brother. "Kerimov immediately began to give confessions and told that he committed a double murder on the basis of commercial relations," - says the source of RBC.

"Kerimov went to a deal with the investigation and sentenced Telman Ismailov," says Rusakova's lawyer. She believes that the investigation has no other evidence, except for the "slander".

"If the prosecution side convinces the court that its arguments are justified, then Telman Ismailov faces life imprisonment," explains lawyer Alexander Molokhov. "Under the most liberal approach for a murder with aggravating circumstances, a businessman can be sentenced to ten years in prison." In the case of Ismailov, the verdict may also be in absentia, the lawyer said.

The heyday and decline of Telman Ismailov's business

Telman Ismayilov was born in 1956 in Baku, started trading in the late 1980s, until 2008 he was one of the largest Moscow businessmen. In 1993, opened Cherkizovsky market, which soon became the largest in Moscow. In 1989 he founded the AST group. In the mid-1990s, Ismailov's business began to expand rapidly: among other things, its structures opened several textile factories, a taxi company, a printing house, restaurants and cafes in the capital. The AST Group also invested in jewelry and agricultural production.

In 2007, 31 companies directly owned by the head of the ACT had an annual turnover of about $ 2 billion. The cost of the assets of the ACT himself Ismailov estimated at $ 3 billion. The most profitable were construction assets. Co-owners of the group of companies AST were the sons of Telman Ismailov - Alekper and Sarhan. Part of the ACT group's shares also belonged to Zaur Murdanov's nephew.

Until 2015, Ismailov was on the Forbes list - then the magazine estimated his fortune at $ 600 million. However, after the discovery in 2009 at the Cherkizovsky market of counterfeit goods for $ 2 billion, it was closed and demolished. In the same year, another asset of Ismailov, Voentorg, was sold to the structures of Suleiman Kerimov. Sam Ismailov left the country. The first time he was declared bankrupt in December 2015. In March 2017, Moscow Region arbitration began its sale by selling its property.

In September 2017, Alekper and Sarhan Ismayilov withdrew from the founders of the company AST-International Invariant, one of the largest distributors of alcohol in Russia.

Undivided shares

"In the materials of the criminal case there is a video recording from the surveillance camera, which the operatives seized at a gas station near the place of the murder. It clearly shows that on the day of the murder Mehman Kerimov and Rafik Ismailov met at the gas station, "- says the source of RBC in the Investigation Committee of Russia.

When they were detained on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Savkin and Brilev, Ismailov refused to admit the guilt, and was initially released. This outraged the relatives of Vladimir Savkin, who presented their version at a reception at the head of the CPS Alexander Bastrykin, as Kommersant wrote. According to them, the financial conflict between Vladimir Savkin and Rafik Ismailov became the cause of the murder. Businessmen owned shares in a large shopping and entertainment complex in Moscow, relatives claimed. According to the publication, after his sale, all funds were received by Rafik Ismailov, who owed his ex-partner $ 5.5 million, so he ordered the murder of Savkin and controlled his execution.

When the investigators collected a sufficient evidence base, Rafik Ismailov was also arrested. He, like Kerimov, was charged under part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code (killing two or more persons).

The searches of my mother-in-law's nephew

In September, relatives of Telman Ismailov were searched on 12 addresses. According to the source of RBC, close to the investigation, they were related to the fraud case against one of the credit organizations. Investigative actions were conducted in eight apartments at four addresses belonging to the Ismailov family. "I have children, grandchildren at home. It is not clear what they are connected with, "Ismailov said. He noted that the searches were also carried out "at the nephew's address and at the nephew's address" businessman.

As RBC wrote, after the closure of the Cherkizovsky market, Telman Ismailov started serious financial problems. To pay off old debts, I had to borrow new loans. Among the creditors of Ismailov and its structures was the BM Bank (former Bank of Moscow), etc. In 2014, creditors began to apply to the courts to collect debts: in particular, the BM bank required 17.4 billion rubles. When Ismailova was declared bankrupt, it turned out that there was almost nothing left in his direct property. Gradually, the former bank Prague, the Tropicana business center and the AST shopping center were transferred to the BM bank's disposal.

By the end of 2015, the total amount of claims for the founder of the ACT exceeded 160 billion rubles. In May 2017, the court began selling the assets of Ismailov. According to the federal register of bankruptcy information, the estimated cost of the businessman's property in January 2017 was 695 million rubles, and the amount of creditors' claims - 31 billion rubles.