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In Moscow Region, entrepreneurs accused of embezzlement of citizens’ money under the pretext of investment in shared construction of apartment buildings to stand trial

The Moscow Regional Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia has completed the investigation into five entrepreneurs accused of eight episodes of swindling (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia) and legalization of money obtained by illegal activities (Paragraph B of Part 4 of Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

According to the investigation, by deceit and abuse of trust, the accused individuals had stolen over 374 million rubles from citizens under the pretext of investment in shared apartment building construction in Moscow and Moscow Region (Leninsky District--New Moscow, Odintsovsky, Krasnogorsky, Dmitrovsky Districts). The construction of the buildings had been performed without the required permissions, therefore, the buildings were recognized by the court as unauthorized constructions with the subsequent decision on their demolition. 315 people were recognized as victims of the offence.

At the request of the investigator, the property of the accused individuals was arrested to ensure execution of the court decisions on civil claims and in order to secure compensation for the inflicted damage. The cost of the arrested property covers the size of the inflicted damage.

At first, the criminal case was processed by internal affairs bodies. However, as one of the accused persons was qualified as an advocate, the probe was referred to the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in Moscow Region for further investigation.

The complexity of the probe lied in a large number of victims, accused individuals, and their advocates. The criminal case amounted to 277 volumes. The criminal case with the approved indictment was sent to the court to be tried on the merits.

Moreover, the investigator is processing another criminal case and probe materials into additional episodes of illegal activities of the accused that will be presented separately.