Spanish court recognized the absence of "Russian mafia" in the country

Spanish Themis justified 17 people, among whom were State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik and his wife Diana Gindin. Now, instead of several years in prison, they will be compensated.
19.10.2018
Kommersant
Origin source
The National Court of Spain fully acquitted 17 defendants in one of the most scandalous cases of the "Russian mafia" that allegedly laundered millions of dollars in the Pyrenees by acquiring real estate. According to representatives of the Spanish Themis, the prosecution did not prove that the persons involved in the case, including State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik, were involved in criminal groups and engaged in illegal financial transactions. Now all those who are acquitted have the right to compensation for the damage caused to them by unfounded accusations by the Spanish authorities.

As Russian lawyer Vladislav Reznik, Alexander Gofshtein, told Kommersant, there was no acquittal in the Spanish court as such. “This procedure is not provided for; just our colleagues, Spanish lawyers, were invited to the court, where they were given the text of the document,” Mr. Gofshtein explained. According to him, after receiving the information, he immediately contacted his client, informing him about the outcome of the trial. “Of course, he was very pleased, after all, we were in complete obscurity for almost half a year,” the lawyer emphasized, noting that he and his client “initially knew that the entire accusation was a fake,” but “it took ten years to exposing this cranberry. ” According to him, both his client and other acquitted mafiosi are happy with the event itself, however, they do not exclude the possibility of filing lawsuits to the Spanish justice. “It is still too early to talk about this, but naturally, the issue of filing lawsuits will certainly be discussed,” explained Alexander Gofshtein. He also noted that it is still difficult to talk about possible amounts of compensation, although this practice is common in Spain, “it is necessary to talk about each particular case, since someone spent many months in prison.”

According to the Spanish court, the prosecution did not prove that the defendants were members of a criminal gang, although the police had previously identified the leaders of the Tambov and Malyshev organized criminal groups as the defendants in the investigation of Gennady Petrov and Alexander Malyshev. Allegedly, from 1996 to 2008, reputable businessmen from St. Petersburg transferred their assets to Spain in order to launder criminal money. Petrov and Malyshev were not among the defendants - they left Spain, and the case against them was separated into separate proceedings.

Recall that the widely advertised special operation of the Spanish special services against the so-called Russian mafia called “Troika”, which was held almost 11 years ago, became the basis for the start of a high-profile investigation. The investigation itself was initiated by a well-known Spanish judge Baltasar Garson, who started spying on suspects, tapping their phones and other “operational actions”. The investigation of the criminal case went on for a very long time. Only in 2015, the prosecutor's office finally drafted an indictment, which took 460 pages. According to the prosecutor's office, immigrants from Russia laundered large sums of money obtained in a criminal way in Spain, acquiring expensive real estate in Alicante, Malaga, Madrid and Mallorca. In total, according to the investigation, the accounts of the companies Inmobiliaria Calvia 2001 SL, Inmobiliaria Balear 2001 SL, Drever Limited and Centros Comerciales Antei SL, which the investigation considers to be controlled by Gennady Petrov, for the purchase of houses and villas were transferred € 50 million.

During the trial, the Spanish prosecutors demanded that all the accused be sentenced, albeit to small, but real prison terms - from a year and seven months to 5.5 years, but with huge fines - up to € 100 million. Interestingly, some of the defendants were Russian State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik and his wife Diana Gindin. They were suspected of laundering money by buying a house in a Spanish resort. The parliamentarian himself categorically denied his guilt, and then voluntarily arrived in a Spanish court to testify. Mr. Reznik prosecutors wanted to put 5.5 years. Now he must be returned to the house arrested during the investigation and, obviously, to pay compensation for unwarranted criminal prosecution.

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