In the Irkutsk region, authorities have charged a local resident with smuggling timber valued at 350 million rubles. This development was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs Media as part of ongoing investigations.
Investigators say that in August 2014, the manager of a regional wholesale timber enterprise signed an international export contract with a foreign firm to ship sawn timber to East Asian markets.
To make the export appear legitimate, the suspect enlisted a front organization to create falsified documents claiming legal logging and legitimate timber ownership. Based on these fake papers, he secured permission to export 4.5 thousand cubic meters of timber, a scheme that allegedly generated about 19 million rubles in illicit income for the individual. The case is supported by statements from Irina Volk, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who notes that the individual used deceit to profit from timber trade. (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Over the following two years, the same fraudulent scheme allegedly brought in more than 330 million rubles in illegal earnings. In total, authorities say more than 84 thousand cubic meters of wood were smuggled out of Russia under this operation. (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Additionally, the accused is believed to have illegally reclaimed more than 4.5 million rubles in value-added tax by submitting counterfeit documents to the tax authorities. (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Volk added that the criminal case has been transferred to the Irkutsk Kirovsky District Court for an on-merits review. (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Earlier, in October of the previous year, law enforcement authorities arrested two entrepreneurs suspected of exporting about 50,000 cubic meters of timber valued at roughly 315 million rubles to foreign markets. (Ministry of Internal Affairs)