Received by the Khamovnichesky Court of the capital, St. The criminal case on corruption in the St. Petersburg police contains 88 volumes. It was initially assumed that the alleged crime would be investigated at the place where it was committed. However, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation intervened in this matter, finding sufficient reasons to believe that this case cannot be tried in the place of the defendants in terms of “objectivity in evaluating the results of the investigation and making a fair decision.” ‘old service.
Under the guise of donation
Process, St. It has been ongoing since June 2020, when the Main Investigative Directorate of the St. Petersburg Investigative Committee opened a criminal case. Later, St. According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg, unidentified persons who used funds from the NGO “Assistance Foundation to Police Programs” for personal purposes were also involved.
At the end of 2021, the investigation documents were unexpectedly transferred to the central office of the Investigative Committee,
he is writing “Kommersant”. In July 2022, with the help of the FSB, the main defendants accused of particularly large-scale bribery were searched and detained (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
RIA News
Deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and former chief of the Main Directorate of the city, St. Major General Sergei Umnov, head of the logistics department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg, and Major General Ivan Abakumov of the Leningrad Region and Major General Alexey Semenov, head of the regional headquarters of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, St. Petersburg. He was taken to the pre-trial detention center in St. Petersburg. Additionally, the operators detained the head of the traffic police legal department, Elena Kopieva. According to him the last one data Local TV channel “78” was caught filling the “piggy bank” of a non-profit organization by creating a so-called special “commercial MREO”. However, investigators consider the main ideologist of the corruption scheme to be Sergei Umnov.
“In October 2013 [Умнов] He created and headed an organized group to expand contractual relations with branches of commercial departments of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate for registration and registration of motor vehicles (MREO).
accepting bribes under the guise of donations
In the investigation materials, it is stated that it was transferred to the accounts of the Fund for Assistance to Programs of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate.
What did they pay for?
Investigators also identified bribers (Part 5 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code); According to investigators, these are St. They were the general directors and owners of legal entities that rented premises in the registration and inspection departments of the MREO traffic police in St. Petersburg.
From 2013 to 2019, these companies provided paid automotive technical inspections to vehicle owners. For example,
in such offices, from state registration of the car, etc. It was possible to order verification of the car number first.
So, businessmen Nadezhda Smirnova, Andrei Tsarnetsa, Vladimir Platonov and Oleg Ivanov were behind bars next to former policemen at the trial. According to various information, initially a total of 11 entrepreneurs were involved in this crime, but later, thanks to active repentance, some of the defendants escaped criminal investigation.
There was another defendant – St. Louis, who organized the Traffic Safety Center LLC. Vladimir Mashnin, former head of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. He was not destined to live to see the trial; He died in 2022 at the age of 72. At the same time, those whom the investigation considers to be bribers, unlike those accused of bribery, are not in the pre-trial detention center, but under an undertaking not to leave.
Investigators from the Investigative Committee found that employees involved in General Umnov’s corruption scheme were located in St. Petersburg, MREO UGIBDD departments. He found that he was included in the departmental commission that determined the procedure for its placement in St. Petersburg and the region. As can be seen from the plot of the criminal case, this commission located eleven registration and examination departments in buildings owned by businessmen associated with the defendant.
The latter derived their revenue from various vehicle registration services.
Such offices sent part of their profits to the NGO “Assistance Fund for Programs of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate”, supposedly in gratitude for this placement. According to the investigation, during the six years that Sergei Umnov headed the commander-in-chief, this non-profit organization received about 65 million rubles from tenants. The investigation assessed that all these money were bribes spent on the purchase of premium cars, mainly by the non-profit foundation:
For 5.2 million rubles – Toyota Land Cruiser 200, for 2.2 million rubles – Toyota Camry.
Money from the same “wallet” was used to buy subscriptions to elite gyms for the heads of headquarters, to repair and equip their offices and recreation rooms. So, the inspectors indicate an amount of 800 thousand rubles spent only on purchasing, for example, plumbing for the toilet of the head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The same money was used to pay for banquets held in honor of various holidays.
Investigative Committee staff, St. He concluded that Umnov, the former head of the St. Petersburg police, in addition to bribes, received funds from the fund for various department events that included lavish banquets. Therefore, according to them, Umnov wanted to impress his superiors to ensure career advancement and immunity.
not guilty
Umnov, Abakumov, Semenov and Kopieva did not admit their guilt from the beginning of the investigation. They claim no crime was committed. Umnov claims that decisions regarding the placement of business people in MREO departments and the spending of fund money are mutual decisions. Lieutenant General Umnov allegedly did not use any of the benefits purchased for him, as he moved to Moscow, where Vladimir Kolokoltsev was appointed deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The businessmen in this criminal case also do not admit guilt. The investigation was attended by St. They said they voluntarily contributed money to the St. Petersburg police.
They believe this is how they fight crime.
What about in Moscow?
Sergei Radko, automobile lawyer of the Freedom of Choice movement, says that registering a car in the traffic police MREO is still an unreasonably complex procedure, and there are many people who want to help speed up this process in case of difficulties.
“Near any traffic police MREO there are a lot of merchants offering insurance policies and other services.
If an investigation is requested, only St. He will be able to detect something similar at other MREOs not only in St. Petersburg, but also in other cities of Russia.
We all understand very well that the scheme on which the registration departments and the traders next to them work is approximately the same for all these scenarios, Radko told socialbites.ca.
The interlocutor noted that despite the digitalization of traffic police queue records, databases systematically fail. Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Union (NAU), agrees with Radko, saying that commercial structures and services related to vehicle registration are only available in St. It’s a problem not only in St. Petersburg, but also in other parts of Russia.
“In Moscow, registration is carried out largely through so-called runners, trailers and other organizations located near the traffic police.
Imitating official structures, traffic police, etc. Sites with names make you feel very comfortable
and “help” with registration. We made a proposal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to abolish these paid services around the State Traffic Inspectorate. Close these sites, check the Avito classification, where there are a lot of offers for registering vehicles, but this offer did not have any real results,” concluded Shaparin.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Anika Rood is an author at “Social Bites”. She is an automobile enthusiast who writes about the latest developments and news in the automobile industry. With a deep understanding of the latest technologies and a passion for writing, Anika provides insightful and engaging articles that keep her readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the world of automobiles.