Central Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has concluded the investigation of the criminal case against the former head of the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Kemerovo Region Sergey Kalinkin, the senior investigator of the Second Department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the Investigation Department of the Kemerovo Region, Artemy Shevelev, and the former employee of the Investigation Department of the Kemerovo Region, Sergey Kryukov; vice-governors of the Kemerovo Region Alexei Ivanov and Alexander Danilchenko; Elena Troitskaya, head of the Department of Administration of the Kemerovo Region; Alexander Shchukin, an entrepreneur, and his lawyer, Gennady Vernigor.

Investigators of the Investigative Committee of Russia charged Kalinkin under Paragraph «b» of Part 3 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extortion committed by an organized group in a preliminary conspiracy on a large scale), Paragraph «a» of Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (exceeding official powers with the use of violence or with the threat of its use), Part 6 of Article 290 and Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (two episodes of taking a bribe on a very large scale). Kryukov and Shevelev are accused of committing crimes under Paragraph “b” of Part 3 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extortion), Paragraph «a» of Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (exceeding official powers). Ivanov, Danilchenko, Troitskaya, Shchukin and Wernigor are charged with extortion (Paragraph “b” of Part 3 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

From July 8 to July 11, 2016, the accused entered into a conspiracy to extort 51 per cent of coal producer Inza Mine JSC from Anton Tsygankov according to the investigators.

Later, at the direction of Kalinkin and Kryukov Shevelev unlawfully opened a criminal case and detained a shareholder on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority). The next day, Ivanov, Danilchenko and Troitskaya with the assistance of Kalinkin, Kryukov and Shevelev met in the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Kemerovo Region with the detained Tsygankov and threatening him with imprisonment forced the latter to transfer the shares to Schukin. After that, Vernigor with other accused organized the execution of a notarized power of attorney on behalf of the victim to donate shares.

In addition, in April 2012, holding the position of first deputy head of the investigative department Kalinkin received a bribe from Shchukin on a very large scale in the form of a BMW X5 worth more than 4 million rubles for general patronage and in October 2014, already being the head of the Investigation Department he again received a bribe from Shchukin in the form of a BMW X5 worth more than 6.5 million rubles also for general patronage.

The Investigative Committee's investigators conducted an impartial investigation giving a legal assessment of all the circumstances of the incident regardless of ranks or positions.

In total, during the investigation of the criminal case at least 300 witnesses were questioned, over 120 searches and seizures, and about 20 examinations, including complex phonoscopic and linguistic which are essential for proving the guilt of the accused, were conducted. As part of the investigation, two cars previously received by Kalinkin as bribes, money, real estate and other valuable items of the accused were seized.

The investigation gathered enough evidence, therefore, the criminal case with the approved indictment against eight accomplices was sent to the court to be tried on the merits.

Suppression of exceeding official powers, the fight against corruption in the system of law enforcement agencies holds a special place in the activities of the Investigative Committee of Russia. Intolerance to such facts and the absence of condescension towards former colleagues who have redeemed the appearance and integrity of an officer is fundamental to this work. The investigation does not intend to conceal neither the criminal facts themselves, nor the persons who committed them - especially when it comes to the investigating officers, those who violated the oath. On the contrary, the Investigation Committee approaches to the investigation of such crimes with all the rigorous.

Official spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation                                        S. Petrenko