Time to read: 14 minutes(s)

The trial of former Governor Ivan Belozertsev, accused of accepting bribes, has entered the final stretch: the parties have already entered the closing arguments. Following this, the defendants will make their closing statements, and then the court will announce the verdict.

NeMoskva examined the 45-page statement presented by the former governor's defense attorney, Alexei Shuvarin, on December 5. He outlined the main inconsistencies in the criminal case, as well as the regional governor's life and what happened to him after his arrest.

The trial is taking place in the assembly hall. Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention centerThis is due to the health of one of the defendants in the case, oligarch Boris Shpigel, who has been confined to a wheelchair since his arrest. Journalists are not allowed inside, making it difficult to find information about the prosecution's evidence. NeMoskva is publishing only what it was able to uncover in the defense's materials.

WHO IS IVAN BELOZERTSEV?
Residents of the Penza region called Ivan Belozertsev "Tankman." Firstly, he served for many years at the Ulyanovsk Tank School, where he was primarily involved in Komsomol and party work. Secondly, he was completely inept at communicating with journalists and answering questions: from the outside, it seemed as if he was always "in the tank." During his first election in 2015, he positioned himself as a Russian officer who understood honor and would fight corruption in the region. One of his first high-profile victories was saving Penza bus stations, which the family of former Governor Vasily Bochkarev had attempted to acquire as their own. The former governor's family also had interests in the regional pharmaceutical supply market. Belozertsev himself never concealed the fact that before his governorship, he was involved in the funeral business. He combined this with serving as Speaker of the City Duma, and then the Legislative Assembly. His children later took over the funeral businesses. As governor, he was remembered for his proactive curb replacement efforts, earning him another nickname: Ivan Bordyurych. On some streets in the regional capital, curbstones were replaced almost every year. Eventually, they were even installed on the shoulders of suburban highways, preventing drivers from pulling over. Belozertsev was accused of owning a curbstone factory. However, no one was able to prove this. The governor's approval ratings began to decline in 2017, when a protest in Penza appeared A powerful movement of defrauded homebuyers, comprising approximately three thousand members, formed the basis for the movement. They staged rallies and pickets, and several times "caught" Belozertsev on the streets, including with the Volga Federal District Plenipotentiary Representative. The governor eventually resolved the issue with the homebuyers by completing eight apartment buildings at public expense. In 2019, a mass strike of ambulance workers dissatisfied with their wages took place in the region. Around the same time, hospital patients shared photos of beds made of planed boards and chairs, and leaking roofs. That same year, a mass brawl between Russians and Roma occurred in the village of Chemodanovka, at the entrance to Penza, resulting in one death and the closure of the M-5 federal highway. Trying to resolve the conflict, Belozertsev blamed the West and the United States during a public gathering. A video of his speech has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. Shortly before his arrest, the governor's youngest son, Danila Belozertsev, was implicated in a scandal involving the demolition of an old mansion in central Penza. Rumors swirled on social media that the governor's family owned dozens of properties and several businesses, which had begun aggressively expanding their sphere of influence. 

I was tired and defended the children.

The Investigative Committee officers detained Ivan Belozertsev on the evening of March 20, 2021. According to the criminal case file, the search of his office began at 20:55 p.m. and lasted until the early morning—approximately 13 hours straight.

The governor waited another hour for the papers to be prepared.

He was then taken to the regional anti-corruption department, where a detention report was drawn up. He then spent an hour and a half being questioned as a suspect and another hour as an accused.

During this entire period—approximately 20 hours—the 62-year-old governor neither ate nor slept. In one of the first interrogation reports, the defense attorney notes that Belozertsev was extremely tired, constantly losing his train of thought, poorly oriented in time and space, confused about the sequence of events, and unable to testify objectively. However, the investigator refuses to allow the regional governor time to rest and continues the interrogation.

During the trial, Belozertsev spoke about pressure from the investigator. According to the former governor, before the interrogation began, his eldest son, 39, was brought to the building of the regional anti-corruption department. Alexandra Belozertseva.

Investigator Ivanov threatened that if the governor did not confess, the children would be taken into custody. — the lawyer recalled during the court debate. Alexey Shuvarin. - My client considered the investigator's threat to take the children into custody to be credible, so he gave testimony that was not true, using it as a way to protect his children.

The first thing the investigation demanded was a confession to receiving a bribe from an oligarch. Boris Shpigel, who owned the pharmaceutical holding company Biotek. According to the lawyer, the governor testified that, in exchange for "general patronage," the Moscow businessman gave him money and a Breguet watch worth almost six million rubles.

It is noteworthy that during this interrogation, Belozertsev was unable to indicate where, when, and for what specific actions he received bribes from Shpigel.

10 billion charge

According to investigators, Belozertsev was getting Bribes for lobbying the interests of the Biotek holding company, which supplied drugs to Penza hospitals. The prosecutor's office currently believes this helped Boris Shpigel's companies win more than 200 contracts worth almost 10 billion rubles. This figure appears in a civil lawsuit recently filed in court, but is absent from the criminal case file.

According to the indictment, the Penza governor appointed people favored by the oligarch to leadership positions, warned his companies about inspections, ordered subordinates to enter into contracts with specific organizations, and provided them with information about the need for specific medications.

However, lawyer Shuvarin believes that the prosecution was unable to prove these episodes.

In particular, the court proceedings failed to name the specific officials the governor allegedly appointed under Shpigel's patronage. Moreover, the documents presented indicate that Belozertsev actually initiated the inspections of Biotek's structures.

The theory that patronage was provided through the provision of information about the actual needs of hospitals is completely contrary to procurement legislation, since this information is publicly available and published online.

Former health ministers of the Penza region confirmed to the court that the governor never interfered in the drug procurement process. Alexander Nikishin и Vyacheslav Kosmachev, vice-governors Valery Savin и Larisa Ryabikhina, employees of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, as well as chief physicians from 30 hospitals.

Head of the Economics Department of the regional Ministry of Health Maksim Kuzmichёв He clarified that during Belozertsev's governorship, the cost of services from Biotek organizations even decreased.

Packages for Belozertsev

The former Penza governor is accused of at least two counts of receiving money.

The first is dated June 2020. According to the prosecution, Boris Shpigel, while in his Moscow apartment, personally handed over four million rubles to Ivan Belozertsev. However, there are no witnesses to this event.

As he explained during the first interrogations Gennady Markov, Belozertsev, who worked as Belozertsev's driver and was waiting for him in the car that day, left the building with his assistant Alexander Sergeev, who was holding a package. However, in September 2021, Markov, who was placed in pretrial detention, changed his testimony, stating that "it was probably Belozertsev who left the house with the package."

During the trial, the driver clarified that he said this under pressure from the investigator, who promised to soften his pretrial detention. According to the criminal case file, the date of the interrogation indeed coincides with the date Markov was given permission to speak to his wife and daughter: previously, he had been prohibited from calling them.

But even if we assume that no one pressured the driver, the contents of the package still remain in question: Markov doesn’t know what was inside.

According to Shuvarin's lawyer, the accusation of transferring money in June 2020 is nothing more than a guess on the part of investigators.

The second bribe, amounting to 20 million rubles, was transferred between August and September 2020. According to investigators, it fell into the governor's hands through an intermediary—an employee of the Penza Region representative office in Moscow. Fyodor Fedotov, who is also in the dock.

As Fedotov himself explains, he did indeed visit Shpigel's Moscow apartment at the end of August. There, he was handed a package containing documents and a bottle of cognac; there was no money inside. In September, he was in Penza and delivered all of this to Belozertsev's home.

The prosecution has no witnesses in whose presence the money transfer allegedly took place. However, photographs taken by operatives during surveillance of Fedotov have been submitted as evidence: he is pictured holding a 30x20x10 cm package.

There is no objective evidence that there were 20 million rubles in this bag, — emphasized lawyer Shuvarin and referred to the expert's opinion, who tried to cram such a sum into a similar package. — It is impossible to place and transport banknotes worth five thousand rubles, totaling 20 million rubles, in a package measuring 30x20x10 cm without visible signs of the presence of these banknotes in the package.

In his initial testimony, Belozertsev himself claimed to have received 20 million rubles from Shpigel for the election campaign, which lasted from summer to autumn 2020. He later retracted this statement, citing threats from the investigator, physical fatigue after a 13-hour search, and a "mental disorder of the central nervous system."

However, Biotek structures were approached by certain officials asking for support for Belozertsev's election campaign, as reported by another defendant in the criminal case. Anton Koloskov, who held the position of CEO at the Pharmacy company (part of Boris Shpigel’s holding company).

As it follows from his words, the request for help with the elections came from Alexandra Popova — former head of the administration of the Oktyabrsky district of Penza.

  Popov insisted on providing assistance in cash. Later, he inquired whether the money was ready for delivery.— lawyer Shuvarin recounts Koloskov’s testimony. — In conversation, Popov said, "They'll be happy with half." As Koloskov understood it, this wasn't assistance to Belozertsev personally, but to his campaign staff.

For this reason, Koloskov took out a 10 million ruble loan from his company. He handed the money over to Shpigel, who, believing he was being scammed, refused to hand it over. He later returned the money to Koloskov as a bonus.

The defendants in the criminal case deny that Belozertsev was given a package containing 20 million.

"I have a governor elected. What can you suggest?"

Ivan Belozertsev was re-elected for a second term on September 13, 2020, receiving almost 79% of the vote.

Two days later he turned 62 years old.

According to the criminal case materials, Boris Shpigel's phone was already being tapped at that time.

Since it's his birthday, we need to buy him one. We'll think about it now. the oligarch said during a call with his driver Markov on September 16.

He had it yesterday, — he replied.

I know, I know. So now I need to think about what to give him now. What can I give him? What does he want, do you know? — Spiegel tried to find out.

After that he called his wife Eugene Der Spiegel, who is also now in the dock.

  Listen, they elected a man there, and his birthday was yesterday. We need to give him something, — he brought her up to date. — Well, let's give him some nice watch, - the wife suggested.

They then came to the conclusion that they needed to turn to To Larisa Arnold From the Mercury store—the official distributor of Rolex watches in Moscow. After finishing his conversation with his wife, Spiegel immediately called her.

I have a governor elected, and yesterday was his birthday. Please tell me what you can suggest? — said the oligarch.

So, a Breguet watch worth 5,8 million rubles was chosen as a gift.

That same day, Belozertsev's assistant, Alexander Sergeev, receives a photo of the watch and a message on WhatsApp from Shpigel's assistant: "Sasha. Hi! The boss wants to give I.A. [Ivan Alexandrovich] a gift. Tell me, does he have one like this?"

The watch was given to an entrepreneur and honorary citizen of Penza. To Alexander Chernitsov, who was traveling from Moscow by train. He carried the gift bag in a shopping bag so as not to get it dirty.

Belozertsev opened the gift at his home, in the presence of guests. One of them told the court that she immediately went on her phone and looked up the price of the watch on the store's website. Upon seeing the price, Belozertsev called Shpigel back, thanked him, and said he couldn't accept such an expensive gift.

In court, he explained that he had not managed to return the watch before his arrest, as Spiegel had been undergoing treatment in Israel for a long time.

According to the oligarch himself, he gave the gift out of etiquette, since Belozertsev had given him a crystal set for his birthday.

Store employee Larisa Arnold examined the confiscated watch in the courtroom. After assessing its appearance and the condition of the strap, she concluded that it had never been worn.

Mercedes, a pistol with bullets and a zoo specialist

Ivan Belozertsev is also accused of accepting a bribe, which was rendered in the form of a favor. According to the indictment, in the summer of 2019, the governor used a Mercedes-Benz owned by the Biotek holding company. Investigators estimate the cost of 11 days' rental at 166,865 rubles.

The defense notes that Belozertsev used the car in St. Petersburg, where he traveled on official business to attend the International Economic Forum and the Sixth Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus. He arrived there on official invitations signed by an aide to the President of the Russian Federation. Igor Levitin and Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Yuri VorobyovOrganizers of both events issued passes for a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and an accreditation badge to the driver.

According to the lawyer, the cost of the service rendered to Belozertsev was calculated based on the driver's working hours. However, Gennady Markov was receiving a salary from the Penza Region representative office and was also on a business trip "to provide transportation services to the governor." Furthermore, he drove around St. Petersburg not only for the regional governor but also for four other officials.

In this regard, Alexey Shuvarin believes the service's price is inflated and the calculations are incorrect. He also emphasizes that the governor received no personal benefit from the use of the car, meaning it cannot be considered a bribe.

The recipient of the property service was not Belozertsev personally, but the Government of the Penza Region, since by virtue of УThe Penza Region government is responsible for ensuring the activities of гgovernor, — the lawyer believes. — DEF takesemthat there is no criminal event in this episode.

Shuvarin also believed that the prosecution failed to present evidence linking Ivan Belozertsev to the pistol and ammunition found during a search of the office's closet. The defense emphasized that the room could have been accessed from the common hallway, and there were no biological traces of the governor on either the pistol or the ammunition. There were none even on the bag and briefcase in which the weapon and ammunition were stored.

In the absence of the governor, the office and cloakroom were visited by persons from the technical staff, the lawyer reminded. It is a cleaner, plumber, electrician, and also a zoo specialist for aquarium maintenance.

The fate of the seized property

At the end of his speech, Alexey Shuvarin asked that the seizure of property belonging to Belozertsev and his relatives be lifted.

He emphasized that the apartment, cottage, and garage were acquired long before his appointment as governor, as was most of the "seized property of third parties," who presented evidence to the court of their legal acquisition.

According to criminal case materials, 229 million rubles, $79, and 150 euros were seized during a search of Belozertsev's home. In January 2022, all of this money was forfeited to the state by court order.

The total value of the seized property of all persons involved in the criminal case exceeds 1,8 billion rubles. This includes 61 properties in Crimea, the Penza, and Moscow regions, as well as 3,500 rare prints and paintings.

The Prosecutor General's Office has already presented a lawsuit against the defendants in the criminal case, demanding compensation for damages caused to the state in the amount of 9,9 billion rubles.

Charge proposed For Ivan Belozertsev, 13 years in a maximum-security penal colony, a fine of 500 million rubles, and also demanded that he be stripped of his state awards—the Order of Honor and the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class.

For Boris Shpigel, they requested 12 years in a maximum security penal colony and the same fine.

Anton Koloskov faces 10 years in a maximum security penal colony, and Gennady Markov and Fedor Fedotov face 8 years each.

For Evgenia Shpigel, the prosecution requested 9 years in a general regime penal colony.

Meanwhile, Biotek Holding is at risk of bankruptcy. As recently as 2020, it ranked tenth among drug suppliers, with a turnover of 41 billion rubles. However, following the arrest of its management, it ended last year with a loss of 1,6 billion rubles and faced several lawsuits and bankruptcy filings. It is currently under external supervision.