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The evidence gathered by the Main Directorate on Major Crimes Investigation of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation was found by the court to be sufficient to convict Janna Bullock. She was found guilty of swindling and legalization of money and other assets acquired by a person in an illegal way (Part 4 of Article 159 and Part 3 of Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

The probe into Bullock was processed separately, as, during the investigation into the embezzlement of monetary funds of Moscow Region on an especially large scale, the relevant authorities of the USA responded that Bullock was present within the borders of the USA and could not be extradited due to a lack of an extradition treaty between the USA and the Russian Federation. In this regard, the court was held in absentia, without the participation of the defendant, as allowed by the criminal procedure law, if they are hiding from the investigation abroad.

The investigation and the court established that, as a participant of the organized group led by former First Deputy Governor of Moscow Region--Finance Minister of Moscow Region Alexey Kuznetsov and his First Deputy Valery Nosov, Bullock had been involved in the acquisition, by deceit and abuse of trust, of the rights for other people’s property in the form of the right to claim debts for indicated services from Moscow Region municipalities rendering public utilities services, as well as in the legalization of the money. The accomplices also had stolen money in the result of a transaction for sale and purchase of registered ordinary non-certificated shares of Rosweb owned by Mosobltrustinvest JSC and funds of Mortgage Corporation of Moscow Region received in the resulting sale of the third series of bonds of Moscow Regional Mortgage Agency JSC. The damage inflicted by the illegal actions of the convicts amounts to 11.8 billion rubles.

The Bullock’s part in the offences had been to arrange and develop a swindling scheme, to coordinate the actions of the organized group’s members, and to control the flow of the money on the accounts of limited liability companies managed by the organized group’s members.

The money was legalized via fake deals with various legal entities controlled by the organized group’s members, including Bullock, with accounts in MZB Bank also controlled by Kuznetsov, Nosov, and Bullock. Through the conclusion of fake deals, the stolen money had been transferred to accounts of non-resident companies registered in the offshore zone of the Republic of Cyprus. The stolen money had been used to purchase luxury properties in Switzerland and France, two hotels in France, 10 luxury cars, a motor yacht registered in the Cayman Islands, and other assets.

In addition, in the course of investigative actions on the territory of Russia, antiques of artistic and historical value were discovered, which Bullock tried to take to the Republic of Finland before leaving for the United States, but was stopped by the investigation. Among that property there are 1357 items, including printed editions and books, paintings, mats with icons and newspaper excerpts, paintings and frames, furniture and interior items, tableware, dinner sets, statues, porcelain items, coins, armor, uniform, clothing and equipment, cold and bladed weapons, capsule pistols, etc. The property in question had been acquired by the accused with the funds stolen by her and the members of the organized group, and it was therefore decided to arrest the property.

The criminal scheme was disclosed due to a thorough analysis of financial and accounting documents seized during search activities in RIGroup and other organizations controlled by the convicts. This revealed money stealing and legalization schemes. The investigation was also complicated by the necessity to obtain numerous documents from abroad. As a result of cooperation with foreign relevant authorities, the investigation managed to gather enough evidence and to establish what the money obtained by illegal activities had been spent on.

Three perpetrators had been sentenced earlier: Valery Nosov, Vladislav Telepnev, and Elena Kuznetsova. The extradition of the accused Alexey Kuznetsov from France to Russia is currently in progress.

Bullock was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.

Official spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia S. Petrenko