The state prosecutor’s office is seeking a nine years and ten months prison sentence for Andrei Chesnokov, the top executive of EMK-Engineering, in connection with alleged fraud involving funds from the Russian Defense Ministry. This information is reported by Kommersant.
Officials say the investigators used the businessman as a controlled informant on dishonest colleagues, then charged him with fraud in a carefully staged sequence. The claim is that Chesnokov played a regular role in revealing other actors’ misdeeds, only to be drawn into fraud charges himself, according to the same publication.
Chesnokov’s presumed partners, Vadim Lesnykh and Vasily Titov, are facing prison terms of nine and a half years and eight years, respectively, as part of the case’s broader allegations.
The matter dates back to 2019 when law enforcement filed the initial lawsuit. Investigators allege that Gradstroyproekt LLC entered into contracts with the Main Military Construction Directorate of a Federal State Unitary Enterprise for reconstruction projects at the Terekta and Turgai military training grounds in Kazakhstan. Of the 760 million rubles allotted from the budget, prosecutors claim roughly 500 million were siphoned off by Chesnokov’s alleged accomplices and funneled through shell firms.
Recent developments revealed on July 20 show an intensification of scrutiny surrounding Balashikha Foundry and Mechanical Plant OJSC, where management changes occurred as part of ongoing anti-corruption investigations. The authorities opened proceedings alleging abuse of power in the implementation of a state defense order, signaling a broader pattern of alleged misappropriation within defense-related contracts.
There is a backdrop to the current proceedings involving a former deputy head of the Defense Ministry, Timur Ivanov, with whispers in the legal circles that a new defendant could be added to the case. The evolving narrative underscores a wider effort to untangle financial schemes connected to defense procurement and contractual oversight, as reported by multiple sources familiar with the investigation.