The Moscow Main Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation finished investigation of a probe into gang members Sergey Hodykin, Denis Sarychev, Timofey Shatovkin and previously convicted Sergey Balikhin who had convicted a number of murders and robbery attacks in Moscow. Depending on a role of each, they are accused of committing offences under Part 2 of Article 209 (participation in an armed gang), Part 2 of Article 105 (murder of two or more persons committed out of malicious motives, attended by robbery and banditry), Part 3 of Article 222 (acquisition and storage of firearms), Part 4 of Article 162 of the Criminal Code of Russia (large-scale robbery committed with an illegal intrusion in a home, with the infliction of grave injury to the victims).
Due to well-planned search activities and operative work of investigators of the Moscow Main Investigations Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, officers of the Main Directorate of Criminal Police of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Moscow Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2017 Sarychev, Hodykin and Shatovkin, hiding from investigation for a long time, were detained.
According to investigation, the perpetrators were members of a gang created in 2007 by Moscow citizen Sergey Balikhin to attack citizens and take over their property. Thus, in April 2007 Balikhin and other gang members intruded an apartment in Volzhsky Boulevard, committed a murder of a 43-year-old businessman and stole over 1 million roubles. Later, on March 5, 2009, Sarychev and the gang members committed a robbery attack on an apartment in Zarevyi Drive in Moscow and committed an atrocious murder of three persons including a juvenile. After that, they stole property of total value of 2.096 million roubles from the apartment. In total, during the indicated period of time, the gang members committed five robbery attacks in Moscow.
During search activities, an arms cache was discovered in a garden plot of one of the accomplices. Grenades and other ammunition was seized.
As it was previously reported, involvement of Sergey Balikhin, Viktor Yakubiv and Marat Yusupov in murder of 9 persons had been established; during attacks, one of the accomplices hid his face behind a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. The court sentenced the gang members to prison sentences from 14 years to life imprisonment.
DNA, ballistic, portray, trajectory analysis and other forensic examinations have been arranged and carried out during the investigation. Over 300 witnesses have been interrogated; their testimonies helped the investigation to establish details of the committed offences.
The criminal case with the approved indictment has been sent to the court to be tried on the merits.
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