Shatunov family estimates damages in Razin fraud case at 1 billion rubles
The case against former producer of «Laskovy May» (Tender May), accused of fraud, continues to gain momentum. Initially, the damage from Razin«s actions was estimated at 500 million rubles (approx. $5 million at current rates), but now the figure could double to 1 billion rubles (approx. $10 million at current rates), TASS reports.
According to investigators, Andrei Razin long used a fake contract that he allegedly signed with the author of legendary songs, Sergei Kuznetsov. Thanks to this document, he received money as the rights holder, although it did not belong to him. License payments were supposed to go to the author, but after Kuznetsov«s death, his widow was recognized as the victim. She is the one seeking justice.
Razin is accused under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, «Fraud.» Under this article, he faces up to 10 years in prison. The former producer himself has fled from investigators to the USA and does not intend to return to Russia.
However, that was not the end of the case. Later, a second episode emerged, linked to Yuri Shatunov. According to TASS, last year Razin presented in court a contract under which the lead singer of the famous group in 2013 allegedly transferred to the producer copyright and related rights to almost all musical works of «Laskovy May,» as well as to his name and image. In reality, the original document pertained to granting the right to publish information about the group in the media.
As a result, the family of Yuri Shatunov believes that the total damage in the criminal case against Razin due to the second fraud episode could increase from 500 million to 1 billion rubles (approx. $5 million to $10 million at current rates).
Meanwhile, the Tagansky District Court of Moscow reported that on December 30, it granted the investigator«s petition to arrest Razin for a period of 2 months. The term will be calculated from the moment of his actual detention on Russian territory or extradition to competent authorities after crossing the state border.
