Ex-deputy construction supervisor denied 32M ruble fine installments
Orenburg court denies installment plan for ex-deputy construction supervisor convicted of bribery.
The Orenburg Regional Court considered the materials on the appeal by former deputy head of the regional State Construction Supervision Authority Olga Pshenichnikova against the court ruling that denied her petition to pay the fine in installments.
The Orenburg Regional Court heard the appeal and upheld the denial of an installment plan.
Recall that Pshenichnikova was found guilty of accepting a bribe on an especially large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the investigation, from June 2018 to March 2021 she served as acting head of the inspection. It was during this time that she oversaw the construction of a 17-story building at the intersection of Karagandinskaya Street and 60 Let Oktyabrya Street (the developer being Status-SZ LLC: this same company failed to deliver houses on Planernaya Street on time, deceiving over 600 equity holders).
There were no significant violations or remarks, but according to the investigation, Pshenichnikova decided to refuse to issue a conclusion on the high-rise building«s compliance with technical regulations and project documents. However, in exchange for a one-room apartment (worth 1.1 million rubles, about $12,200 at current rates), she changed her anger to mercy: as soon as the housing was registered in her name, all permitting documentation was immediately prepared.
After her detention, property belonging to Pshenichnikova and her relatives (worth 22 million rubles, about $244,400 at current rates) was seized, and Orenburg Region prosecutor Ruslan Medvedev demanded the confiscation of illegally acquired assets. These include a land plot and a residential house of 370 square meters, two cars, four apartments, and four premises for rent — the supervisory authority believes they were purchased with unverified income.
As a result, by court decision, Olga Pshenichnikova was fined more than 32 million rubles (about $355,600 at current rates) and banned from working in government bodies for five years. The prosecutor«s lawsuit was also satisfied: all of the above must be confiscated, plus an additional 12 million rubles (about $133,300 at current rates).
The former official had already unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the verdict itself (the Orenburg Regional Court sided with the prosecution), and she suffered a defeat in the new court case — she filed a petition for an installment plan for the payment of the fine, citing the impossibility of a one-time payment of such an amount due to... «difficult financial circumstances.»
The court of first instance denied her this «benefit,» and now Pshenichnikova appealed that decision as well. It didn«t work:
— The appellate court left the ruling unchanged and the convicted person«s appeal unsatisfied, recognizing the conclusions of the court of first instance about the absence of exceptional circumstances for granting an installment plan for the payment of the fine as correct, — clarified the Orenburg Regional Court.
