Moscow Inter-Regional Transport Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee continues investigating a criminal case against CEO of the Regional Non-Government Organization Sheremetyevo Union of Flight Personnel Alexey Shlyapnikov and member of the organization Valery Pimoshenko. They are charged with a crime under part 3 of article 30, part 4 of article 159 of the RF Penal Code (attempt to steal property from OAO Aeroflot (OJSC) by deceit and on an especially massive scale).

The investigators are checking deputy of the Deputies Council of Mozhaysky municipal district of Moscow Region Sergey Knyshev on involvement in the crime.

He has been detained on suspicion of the crime under article 91 of the RF Criminal Procedure Code for 48 hours and is going to be questioned as a suspect in the near future.

We remind that the investigators believe that in the period between August 2009 and present time Shlyapnikov and Pimoshenko offered OAO Aeroflot their services to reduce the expenses of the airline on the wages to the flight personnel, provided by the direction of the State Labor Inspection in Moscow and threatened to leak to media compromising information on the activity of the airline, which would have caused considerable damage to the business reputation of the company and change of its leadership. For their services the perpetrators demanded from the leadership of the airline to give them 100 million rubles. During the repeated negotiations the sum was reduced to 30 million rubles.

On 18 October 2013, Shlyapnikov and Pimoshenko were caught red-handed by officers of the Federal Security Service and transport police at the moment they were getting the first part of the money – 10 million rubles – from a bank cell.

The investigation is ongoing.