RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT BEGINS HEARINGS ON CASE AGAINST EX-SENATOR
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
August 8, 2007 Wednesday
The Russian Supreme Court began on Wednesday hearings on a criminal
case against Levon Chakhmakhchayn, an ex-senator from the southern
republic of Kalmykia.
The court did not discuss whether the preliminary hearings would be
opened or closed, a court spokesperson told Itar-Tass.
He added that the court proceeding most likely would be held behind
closed doors.
The court declared a break in the proceedings until Friday.
Lawyers of the former member of the Federation Council upper house
of parliament asked for stopping the criminal case against him.
Apart from the former senator, an inspector the Russian Audit Chamber
Armen Oganesyan, who is the son-in-law of Chakhmakhchayn, in the dock.
Another defendant is Igor Arushanov, a chief accountant of the
Association of Russian-Armenian Business Cooperation.
They are accused of stealing one and a half million dollars from the
air company Transaero.
In last year’s April, the Russian Audit Chamber checked the Domodedovo
airport’s customs service, to find that Transaero illegitimately
used exemptions from taxes imports of aircraft, plane engines and
spare parts.
The auditors made the conclusion that these violations left the
federal budget short of seven billion roubles in taxes.
According to investigators, Chakhmakhchayn abused his office and
offered deleting the violations from the audit summary in exchange
for one and a half million dollars.
Most of this sum was to be remitted through fictitious contracts to
front firms, and 300,000 dollars was to be paid in cash.
The Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office said Chakhmakhchayn and
Arushanov struck a fictitious deal the office of Transaero with its
deputy director-general Alexander Pleshakov, under which the air
company was to remit to the Moscow Credit Bank 22 million 500,000
roubles through the account of the front firm Eksilon "for an
advertisement company".
Later, Chakhmakhchayn and Arushanov made with Pleshakov another
fictitious contract. This time the air company was to remit 9 million
820,000 roubles to the company Unios for marketing and advertisement
services.
The firm proved a front registered using a stolen passport.
Investigators said Chakhmakhchayn and Arushanov received 300,000
dollars from Pleshakov for that.
The Federal Security Service detained Chakhmakhchyan, Arushanov,
Oganesyan and other suspects when this money was changing hands.