News

The Moscow Central Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s investigative Committee has completed investigating a criminal case against a criminal gang who kidnapped Ivan Kaspersky. Depending on the role of each one, Nikolai Savelyev, his son Nikolai Savelyev, Sergey Gromov and Oleg Mayukov are charged with crimes under paragraphs “a” and “h” of part 2 of article 126 and paragraph “b” of part 3 of article 163 of the RF Criminal Code (kidnapping of a person by a group of persons under a preliminary conspiracy out with mercenary intents and extortion committed by a group of persons under a preliminary conspiracy using violence to get property on a large scale).

According to investigators, no later than March 2011, the Savelyevs, Gromov, Mayukov and Alexey Ustimchuk decided to kidnap Ivan Kaspersky and demand a ransom of 3 million euros. The accused gave testimonies that the plan appeared after they had watched a TV show about Ivan’s father – CEO of Kaspersky Lab Yevgeny Kaspersky, who, they believed, had enough money. Since March 2011, the accused shadowed their victim, they found out that he was a 4^th year student at the lomonosov State University and worked at ZAO Infowatch and made a schedule of his university, work and daily routines. In accordance with the prearranged plan the accused decided that the best place for the abduction was a residential block near subway station Strogino. There, in the morning of 19 April 2011, the accused grabbed Ivan Kaspersky, put him into a car, covered his eyes with a bandage and put a hat on him, handcuffed him and drove to a dacha village in Sergiyevo-Posadsky district of the Moscow Region, where kept him until the day he was released on 24 April 2011. During negotiations with Ivan kaspersky’s parents on a ransom the kidnappers agreed with them to provide an electronic data storage device with information on the state of their son and on subsequent paying of the ransom.

The parents, however, on the day their son disappeared, turned to law enforcement and thanks to professionally planned and conducted investigating and search actions the whereabouts of the victim was found out. The law enforcement agents released Kaspersky and apprehended Gromov. The same day the rest of the accomplices – the Savelyevs and Ustimchuk – were detained at the post of the Moscow Region Traffic Police Main Directorate on their way to Moscow to meet the victim’s parents. When they had been detained, the policemen found the electronic data storage device containing information about their son and conditions of paying the ransom.

The two of the accused were former convicts. Sergey Gromo was previously convicted three times for misdemeanors (beating) and Savelyev-senior in 1970s had a police record for swindling.

Investigators have collected enough evidence and the case has been forwarded for the indictment to be approved and further to the court to be tried in the merits.

Alexey Ustimchuk earlier was sentenced to 4.5 years in a high-security prison.