MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) - Moscow's Preobrazhensky District Court on Monday granted a prosecutor's motion to extend the arrest of former Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov and 11 other people charged with creating and participation in a criminal community, multi-billion embezzlement and other crimes.
"The court has granted the state prosecutors' motion to extend the arrest of Abyzov and the other defendants and the house arrest of defendant Zayats until November 10. The lawyers' motions for replacement of the restrictions on the defendant with restrictions not involving imprisonment are declined," Alexander Asnis, a lawyer for Abyzov, told Interfax.
During the court hearing, the prosecutor motivated his motion by alleging that Abyzov and the other defendants can put pressure on witnesses, hide and influence the trial of the case if they are freed. Sergei Drozdov, a different lawyer for Abyzov, said the prosecutors have failed to provide evidence that Abyzov will threaten witnesses or obstruct the trial in any way if the restriction is changed.
He also said Abyzov's health declined sharply in the years of his imprisonment. He also said the ex-minister has dependents, including three underage children and his mother, who is old and sick.
The ex-minister and the accomplices are charged with organizing a criminal community (criminal organization) or participation in it, fraud, corrupt business practices, illegal enterprise, and money laundering, the supervisory agency said.
According to the investigators, "Abyzov, in collaboration with Stepanov and Rusakov, created a criminal community and headed it up no later than 2012 to take the money of JSC Sibeco and JSC Regional Electric Networks worth in total four billion rubles.
The lawyer said three shareholders who owned in total less than three-hundredths of one percent of these joint stock companies, which the investigators believe suffered damage in a total amount of 1.365 million as a result of the embezzlement, have been recognized as aggrieved parties in the case.
According to investigators, Abyzov, being a government official, disregarded bans and restrictions imposed by law, and, acting together with Stepanov, Rusakov, and other parties, engaged in business activity of Cypriot companies under his control and the deal they concluded in February 2018 to sell JSC Sibeco stock. Illegal revenue stood at 32.5 billion rubles, including 18.9 billion rubles laundered through currency conversion and taken abroad.