Former DRSU director's sentence cut for testifying against ex-MP

The Krasnodar Krai Court considered the prosecutor«s office»s appeal against the verdict of the Lazarevsky District Court of Sochi, which had sent former Dagomys DRSU (Road and Bridge Construction Department) director Safarbiy Napso to a general regime penal colony for 4 years for fraud and abuse of power.

The prosecutor asked the court to change the verdict and mitigate the 4-year prison sentence in a general regime colony imposed on Napso by applying Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — a suspended sentence.

“Having studied the arguments of the appeal, which included a pre-trial agreement and active assistance in solving and investigating crimes, as well as compensation for damages, the court granted it. The verdict has entered into force,” the joint press service of the courts of Krasnodar Krai reported.

According to the Prosecutor General«s Office, Safarbiy testified against former Russian State Duma deputy Anatoly Voronovsky, who was stripped of his powers and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Napso stated that he had given Voronovsky a bribe of 25 million rubles (approximately $278,000 at current rates).

Recall that the investigation established that, as the director of a state enterprise, the defendant, as part of an organized group that included other DRSU employees, developed a criminal plan. From 2018 to 2021, members of the criminal group, using front companies and controlled legal entities and individuals, stole enterprise property: vehicles and road equipment totaling more than 45 million rubles (approximately $500,000 at current rates).

In 2019, the defendant, together with accomplices, having prepared fictitious appraisal documentation, carried out a deal under which an asphalt concrete plant, which was the property of Dagomys DRSU, was transferred to a legal entity controlled by the defendants. The cost of the deal was less than 1 million rubles (approximately $11,100 at current rates), while the actual value of the plant was 81,632,278 rubles (approximately $907,000 at current rates), the joint press service of the courts of Krasnodar Krai reported.

The defendants planned to use the asphalt concrete plant for personal enrichment through controlled legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.

The damage caused to the state by the defendants« actions amounted to more than 80 million rubles (approximately $888,900 at current rates).

Moreover, from 2019 to 2020, using a controlled legal entity and fake documents confirming the delivery of goods and serving as the basis for payment, Napso and his accomplices received more than 4 million rubles (approximately $44,400 at current rates), which they disposed of at their discretion. Also, from 2020 to 2021, acting as part of a group, the defendant organized the preparation of certificates on the cost of work performed and enterprise expenses, into which deliberately false information was entered. Based on these documents, as payment for work under a contract that was not actually performed, money was transferred to the bank account of Dagomys DRSU, from which Napso and his accomplices embezzled 79 million rubles (approximately $877,800 at current rates) and then spent at their discretion.