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Vladimir Region investigating bodies of the Russia’s Investigative Committee have charged Oleg Zhukov, a businessman, with setting up a criminal community (part 1 of article 210 of the RF Penal Code) during an investigation in economic crimes against interests of the Russian Federation.

According to investigators, no later than in 2008, Zhukov, who ran construction, equipment lease and travelling businesses and wanted to maximize his profit by committing felonies among other means, set up a criminal community to run shadow and fraudulent economic scams. Counting on his authority and personal leadership qualities he involved in the gang his close relatives, acquaintances, proxies capable of implicit obedience. There were at least 7 people in the gang aware of Zhukov’s criminal intentions and who were active perpetrators. Ensuring complete manageability of carefully thought-trough schemes, strict discipline and hierarchy, supporting a common idea of gaining illegal benefit, Zhukov developed a structure of the criminal community, set up a number of legal entities in the form of limited liability companies headed by faithful people and thus created a network of controlled affiliated enterprises. Zhukov identified the goals, developed and used methods of hostile takeovers of property belonging to the Russian Federation and citizens by deliberate bankruptcy, illegal business, tax evasion. The accused accumulated the money received by the members of the community from their wrongdoings, distributed it among them in accordance with their position in the hierarchy and used the money for other plans.

The members of Zhukov’s criminal community bankrupted OAO Turtsentr in the town of Suzdal and OAO Vladimir Educational Center by buying shares, creating fictitious circulation of documents, conclusion of economically unprofitable contracts, creating artificial loan debts. In the first case, in 2010, after buying 42 % of shares of the tourist center, Zhukov together with the director of the center and other members of the gang took measures to take over the assets of the company. As a result of artificial loan debt accompanied by sharp decline of economic activity, the company lost about 85 million rubles. As a result of fictitious financial and economic insolvency the activity of the company ceased in September 2013, causing the Russian Federation damage of about 150 million rubles. In 2011, using the same ways and commitment to the common cause of top managers of OAO Vladimir Educational Center, members of the criminal community brought the enterprise to a fictitious bankruptcy in order to get hold of the administrative building, dormitory, garages and to gain superprofit from subsequent sale of the property. The shareholder, which was the Russian Federation suffered damage of over 73 million rubles.

To reach their goals the accomplices did not hesitate to use some criminal ways.

The investigators have the evidence that while legalizing the Center’s dormitory which was illegally reconstructed to make a residential building to be later sold, Zhukov and former director of the Center Sergey Bagrov gave a cash bribe of 200 thousand rubles to an official of the registration office of the Federal Cadaster Chamber for putting the dormitory in the cadaster list. The official is also under investigation.

The investigators also revealed that in October 2011 and December 2012, Zhukov forged a silence for specialized work and got an expensive state contract on reconstruction of a regional historical and cultural monument located in the town of Kovrov. By runnin an illegal business the members of the criminal community got a profit of over 166 million rubles of budget funds, causing the state suffer damage of over 3 million rubles.

In addition, in different time members of the gang committed a number of tax crimes, causing the state treasury to suffer damage of more than 75 million rubles.

The criminal community acted in Vladimir and the region since 2008 and until its activity was broken up by law enforcement officials in July 2014. Over that period of time the community committed at least 10 felonies. The leader of the criminal community and its members were charged with fraud on a very large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the RF Penal Code), illegal business gaining profits on a very large scale (paragraph “b’ of part 2 of article 171), tax evasion (article 199), deliberate bankruptcy (article 196), bribery (paragraphs “a” and “b” of part 4 of article 291). The damage caused by their crimes stands at over 250 million rubles.

At present a number of investigative operations are underway to identify all people involved and to prosecute them for membership in a criminal community (part 2 of article 210).

The investigation is conducted in close cooperation with the main Department for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Operations and regional office of the Ministry of the Interior.