Kalina Oil Founder Charged with Illegal Banking Over 13.5M Rubles
On January 21, the Central District Court of Voronezh placed businessman Valery Borisov under house arrest until March 14 inclusive, as reported by Voronezh1.ru from the court. The detention of the founder of the Kalina Oil gas station network became known on the same day, with Borisov becoming a suspect in a case of illegal banking activity. Immediately after FSB officers handcuffed him, he was sent to a pre-trial detention center, but the court did not deem it necessary to keep the gas station mogul in custody. It should be noted that the businessman had a prior conviction for fraud involving budget funds of 65 million rubles (approximately $650,000 at current rates) in VAT refunds, which was expunged last year — for more details, see our article.
Meanwhile, according to FSB investigators, Borisov could have been scheming again on a multi-million scale. He is charged under clause «b» of part 2 of Article 172 of the Russian Criminal Code regarding illegal banking activity — that is, with obtaining income on an especially large scale. Under the interpretation of the Criminal Code for this article, it refers to an amount over 13.5 million rubles (approximately $135,000 at current rates). The businessman could face up to seven years in prison.
By the way. Recently, the Railway District Court sentenced a Voronezh resident to three years in a general regime colony for stealing coffee and cheese from stores worth 9,017 rubles and 29 kopecks (about $90). Shortly before that, for a smaller theft, a comrade was given an administrative penalty — meaning, he did not find the path to correction, and the court did not go easy on him. Stealing anything is not allowed, but. Valery Borisov, recall, swindled the state out of 65 million rubles (approximately $650,000 at current rates) — and got two years. However, he returned everything to the country, and simply turned out to be a good person. In fact, the gasoline magnate ended up serving less than a year, being released on parole. Only on the short path to a clear conscience, as the FSB believes, he somehow got lost.
