Arkhangelsk Director Sentenced for 59M Ruble Theft

The director of an Arkhangelsk company helped steal over 59 million rubles ($660,000 at current rates) while executing a state defense contract. This is how he was punished.

In Severodvinsk, Sergei Burmagin, director of OOO «Tsentr Kadrovykh Resheniy» (Center for HR Solutions), was convicted. He was found guilty of 12 counts of fraud committed using his official position, by an organized group, and on an especially large and large scale.

It is known that Sergei Burmagin is a father of many children. He has a higher education. He had no previous criminal record.

The money was stolen while executing a state contract between the Russian Ministry of Defense and the ship repair center Zvezdochka, which was to repair two vessels at the plant’s branch in Murmansk.

To carry out the work, Zvezdochka hired personnel through organizations providing workers under contract — OOO «Tsentr Kadrovykh Resheniy» and OOO «Telekort Pomorskiy».

From February 2022 to October 2023, AO «Tsentr Sudoremonta Zvezdochka» (Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center) concluded 12 service contracts with OOO «Tsentr Kadrovykh Resheniy» and OOO «Telekort Pomorskiy», which provided for reimbursement of expenses for accommodation of out-of-town specialists.

The director of the Center for HR Solutions acted together with the founder and director of OOO «Telekort Pomorskiy» and two other businesspeople.

«The accomplices registered controlled individual entrepreneurs and entered into fictitious rental agreements for housing at inflated prices with them. Based on forged documents, AO »Ts Zvezdochka« from 2022 to 2024 transferred funds to OOO »Tsentr Kadrovykh Resheniy« and OOO »Telekort Pomorskiy« that significantly exceeded the actual costs of renting premises for housing employees,» the Severodvinsk City Court reported.

The total damage amounted to 59,639,304.32 rubles ($662,700 at current rates).

During the investigation, the accused entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement and fully compensated the damages. In court, he stated that he repented. His case was separated into its own proceedings.

«The court, after examining all the materials of the case, taking into account mitigating circumstances and the absence of aggravating ones, sentenced the criminal to one and a half years of imprisonment in a general-regime correctional colony,» the court said.

The verdict has not entered into legal force.