Stavropol Ex-Deputy Gets 3 Years for Multi-Million Fraud

The man decided to borrow 7.5 million rubles (about $75,000 at current rates) from a local entrepreneur. However, he did not plan to repay the debt, so he will spend the next three years in a penal colony for fraud.

The court found that in March 2018, the former deputy chairman of the Stavropol government asked for a large loan. Of course, he promised to repay the money by the agreed deadline—in two months. The entrepreneur, considering the man«s position, trusted the official and gave him 7.5 million rubles (about $75,000 at current rates).

However, the civil servant had no intention of returning the money. The prosecutor«s office of Stavropol Krai reported that the man did not have the financial means to do so, and moreover, he had a debt for an even larger amount—about 12.5 million rubles (about $125,000 at current rates).

The Leninsky District Court delivered the verdict in the criminal case. The former deputy chairman of the regional government was found guilty under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud on a particularly large scale). Now the man will spend three years in a standard-regime penal colony.

Another high-profile case is being investigated in Stavropol. The general director of «Kardo» Valentin Rabotenko and two of his assistants are suspected of fraud. The man received a grant of 215 million rubles (about $2.15 million at current rates) from the regional budget. This money was allocated for organizing the «Kardo» street culture and sports festival. However, according to the investigation, the defendant and his two assistants stole 4 million rubles (about $40,000 at current rates) from this amount. They were detained on January 23, and on the 25th, by court decision, the defendants were taken into custody.