The criminal case involving former State Duma deputy and ex-Primorye Legislative Assembly official Sergei Sopchuk has been put on hold. This development was conveyed by RIA News, referencing remarks made by Primorye Prosecutor Sergei Stolyarov during a district prosecutor’s board meeting.
Sergei Sopchuk is currently listed as an international wanted person on charges including money laundering and illegal business activity.
Stolyarov noted that seventeen anti-corruption criminal cases have been suspended to date.
“There are four individuals in play here: [Рустям] Abushaev, Sopchuk, Stukov, and the former head of VPOPAT [Руслан] Samigullin. Abushaev is reportedly serving in his homeland at the front, Samigullin has moved to the Northern Military District, Sopchuk is under a search warrant, and Stukov is also on the run,” the prosecutor explained.
According to Stolyarov, suspensions due to inability to locate a defendant are not new. This reflects provisions from the second and third paragraphs of Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. The second paragraph allows halting a preliminary investigation when the defendant cannot be located or is otherwise unavailable, while the third paragraph permits suspension when the defendant’s location is known but participation in the case is not realistically possible.
Primorye journalists point out that Dmitry Stukov is Sopchuk’s nephew and is implicated in one of the lawsuits filed against the former MP.
According to data from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Sopchuk was the actual co-owner of the enterprise until 2020 and arranged for a trusted substitute to manage the company’s leadership. He also extended loans to the business exceeding 1 billion rubles, both personally and through other individuals and corporate structures under his influence.
The individual involved in the case reportedly leveraged his status as a government representative to support business ventures and to legitimize funds obtained through various channels.
Earlier, the Zamoskvoretsky Court in Moscow traced assets belonging to Sopchuk with an estimated value of 38 billion rubles.