Businessman's mistress detained for witness bribery

In Yekaterinburg, the live-in partner of businessman Andrey Shevnin, accused of raping and murdering two 13-year-old schoolgirls, has been detained. She is charged with bribing a witness under Part 4 of Article 309 of the Russian Criminal Code. According to the investigation, on the advice of her lawyer, the woman transferred 500,000 rubles (about $5,600 at current rates) to a surviving victim in exchange for refusing to testify.

A source close to Shevnin«s circle said: »The witness was supposed to say in court that there was no rape and that everything was consensual. The episode happened in 1994 when she was 14 years old. The statute of limitations had expired, and Shevnin agreed to drop the criminal case by admitting to this episode, but the victim remained a witness in the main case.«

According to the interlocutor, the witness confessed, repented, and returned the money. The case materials include correspondence, testimony from other witnesses, as well as letters from Shevnin from the pre-trial detention center with instructions for bribery. Previously, it was reported that the businessman offered 50 million rubles (about $556,000 at current rates) for his release upon detention.

«He has a lot of money, and his relatives and close ones are ready to hand it out left and right so he doesn»t go to prison. Although they tried to maintain secrecy, changed clothes, used fictitious names, they still left many traces,« added the source.

The criminal case on the murder of the teenagers was solved in Yekaterinburg after 30 years. One of the accomplices, Vasily Kuznetsov, went to the zone of the special military operation, another person involved has already died.

Both deceased girls came from disadvantaged families.

According to law enforcement agencies, three decades ago, the investigation was not brought to court because the suspects were «let off.» However, compelling evidence was collected, including traces of blood in the car used by the young men and on their clothing. The items were found in Kuznetsov«s apartment. Moreover, biological traces belonging to the suspects were found on one of the victims.