The Moscow City Court handed down a verdict in a criminal case against State Duma deputy Vadim Belousov and his mother–in-law, former chief accountant of OJSC First Bakery of Chelyabinsk Margarita Butakova. They were found guilty of committing a crime under part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale by an organized group). This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office.
The court found that from May 2010 to January 2014, V.Belousov and M.Butakova, as part of an organized criminal group, together with the ex-governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevich and other persons, received a bribe from representatives of the road construction holding for providing assistance and general patronage when concluding state and municipal contracts for construction, maintenance and repair of highways in the region. In total, during the specified period on the territory of Moscow and Chelyabinsk, members of an organized criminal group illegally received more than 3.25 billion rubles.
V.Belousov was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 10 years in a high-security penal colony, with a fine of 500 million rubles, with deprivation of the right to hold positions in the civil service and in local self-government bodies related to the performance of the function of a representative of the authorities for a period of 3 years. He was also deprived of the state award – the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree. The measure of restraint for V. Belousov was changed from a subscription not to leave and proper behavior to detention, he was put on the wanted list.
M.Butakova, taking into account the age of 80 years and the presence of a number of chronic diseases, was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 5 years conditionally, with a probation period of 4 years, with a fine of 500 million rubles. The time of detention is counted in the term of punishment. In addition, real estate and funds on the accounts of the defendants V.Belousov and Mbutakova in various banks were confiscated, including 52 apartments and 3 non-residential premises in Chelyabinsk, 76 shares in the total shared ownership of land plots and apartments in Chelyabinsk.
The former governor of the Chelyabinsk region, M.Yurevich, who escaped from the investigation and the court, has been put on the international wanted list.
