Former Chita official to be tried for fraud with emergency housing
Former employee of the Chita administration, Sergei Skurydin, is suspected of abuse of official powers, allegedly for not initiating the procedure to declare a building as unsafe. This was reported on February 2 in the channel of the Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Zabaykalsky Krai in the messenger MAX. The surname of the accused was named by a source to Chita.Ru.
The First Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Zabaykalsky Krai has completed the investigation of the criminal case against the former head of the Housing and Utilities Management Department of the City Economy Committee of the administration of the city district «City of Chita». He is accused of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 285 of the Russian Criminal Code (abuse of official powers, committed out of other personal interest and resulting in grave consequences).
«According to the investigation, in 2016, the accused, while heading the interdepartmental commission for recognizing residential premises as unfit for habitation, abused his powers. According to the results of an inspection by the State Housing Inspectorate, numerous critical damages to the building»s structures were recorded in one of the houses in Chita: progressive through cracks in load-bearing walls, significant deformation and damage to floor beams and roof elements, emergency condition of stair flights, destruction of the foundation and blind area.
The house was declared unfit for habitation with a conclusion that there were grounds to declare it an emergency,« the statement said. This refers to the house at 5, 3rd Krasnodonskaya Street, in Chita-I.
Despite this, the accused, instead of initiating the procedure to declare the house an emergency, insisted on carrying out a major overhaul. This decision led to the untimely declaration of the house as an emergency and the inclusion of its residents in the resettlement program.
Investigators have gathered the necessary evidence base, and the criminal case has been sent to the prosecutor for approval of the indictment and further referral to the court.
Skurydin worked in the administration from 2008, taking the position of deputy chairman of the housing and utilities committee, and in 2017 he headed the committee. In February 2019, he retired. Chita.Ru published a free biography of Sergei Skurydin.
In September 2018, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on negligence against Sergei Skurydin. According to the investigation, Skurydin «dishonestly and negligently» managed the implementation of the program for the improvement of Chita«s courtyards, causing major damage to the city»s budget. In 2019, the case was discontinued.
