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Three suspects detained during investigation into especially large-scale swindling within construction of international marine terminal for cruise and cargo ships in Kaliningrad Region

The North-West Transport Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia continues the investigation launched under Part 7 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia (swindling on an especially large scale).

Investigators have detained the Director-General, former Director-General, and Deputy Director-General of Bollwerk LLC as part of the investigation into the embezzlement of over 1.6 billion rubles during the construction of an international marine terminal for cruise and cargo ships in Pionersky, Kaliningrad Region.

Officers of the North-West Transport Investigations Directorate together with the Directorates of the Federal Security Service over St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, Samara and Kaliningrad Regions carried out searches in St. Petersburg, Samara, Kaliningrad, and Moscow. Documents, valuable assets, and money have been seized during the searches.

According to the criminal case materials, in December 2017, Bollwerk LLC (general contractor) concluded a state contract with the Rosmorport Federal State Unitary Enterprise (customer construction company) for the construction of the International Marine Terminal for Cruise and Cargo Ships in the Pionersky Town of Kaliningrad Region worth 7.4 billion rubles. Under the state contract, Bollwerk LLC received in advance payment of 3.63 billion rubles although the actual readiness of the facility is only 27% and the contractor has fulfilled the works for 2.052 billion rubles only. Thus, the spending of over 1.6 billion rubles for the construction of the designated object by Bollwerk LLC has not been proved.

The investigation established that Bollwerk LLC had forwarded the money received from Rosmorport to the accounts of four affiliated companies. Some part of the money had been consequently funneled to shell companies registered in Samara Region, several of which represent organized groups (platforms) allegedly aimed for cash-out operations.

This way the suspects had illegally acquired monetary funds and turned them into their favor by using them at their own discretion, inflicting material damage on Rosmorport worth over 1.6 billion rubles.

In the nearest future, the court will examine an investigative motion on the election of a preventive measure.

At the moment, a complex of investigative activities is being carried out in order to establish all circumstances, causes, and conditions that contributed to the offenses.

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