The Chairman of the Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation against a retired judge of Oktyabrsky district court in Vladimir Anna Khokhlova. She is suspected of crimes under paragraph “c” of part 5 of article 290 of the RF Criminal Code (taking a bribe on a large scale), Part 1 of article 305 (knowingly giving an unjust judgment), part 1 of article 325 (destruction of official documents out of personal interest), part 3 of article 30, paragraphs “a” and “b” of part 3 of article 291.1 (attempted mediation in bribery committed by a group of persons under a preliminary conspiracy on a large scale).
According to investigators in the period between 2010 and 2011 Khokhlova, who was appointed a federal judge in August 2008 for 3-year office, committed a number of official malfeasances. This way, in September 2010, the judge agreed with the proposal of a lawyer, who was an intermediary, for an illegal fee to pass a knowingly unjust decision on review of a sentence by Moscow city court against a man found guilty of a hired murder by a group of people and sentenced to 13 years in prison. In October 2010, without factual trial, Khkhlova passed a knowingly unjust decision shortening his term by 2.5 years. Then, violating requirements of criminal procedure legislation she ordered to make and them signed the court records and the legal resolution containing knowingly false information that the lawyer had been on the hearing and that there had been extenuating circumstances in actions of the defendant – that he had given himself up. During the same period of time Khokhlova received through an intermediary a bribe of 450 thousand rubles. Continuing her wrongdoings and to conceal the traces of the malfeasance and to so that nobody could have had access to the documents the accused kept them in her safe at work until July 2011 and when her office expired she destroyed them, including the original resolution on reviewing the sentence of Moscow city court. In February 2012, cassation ruling of Vladimir region court cancelled Khokhlova’s decision on making the term of punishment 2.5 years shorter as having been illegal.
In May 2010, acting in the same way, the judge refused a law enforcement officer to grant a petition to extend the time of arrest for a woman from Nizhny Novgorod Region, who before the arrest had been wanted on suspicions of swindling on an especially large scale and change her restraining measure for bail. Under the earlier agreement Khokhlova had received from a lawyer, who was an intermediary, a bribe of 700 thousand rubles for her actions in the favor of a briber. As a result of the judge’s malfeasances the accused fled from the investigation again and is still federally wanted.
In addition, in July 2011, Khkhlova, who was retired, entered a conspiracy with two lawyers acting in the interests of a convict serving a long sentence for murder and agreed using her connections with judges in Oktyabrksy district court to assist in making the sentence shorter. The suspect demanded 600 thousand rubles, the most of which she wanted to have for herself and to give the rest as a bribe to the judge, who would make a decision on reviewing the sentence. This criminal intention Khokhlova failed to finish, as the lawyer was detained while receiving from an interested party 400 thousand rubles. The operational support in this case is conducted by the local office of The Federal Security Service.
At present investigating operations are underway to find all the circumstances of the crimes. Investigation is ongoing.
Head of Media Relations V.I. Markin
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