State the guilt: Timur Ivanov denies embezzlement of 4 billion rubles

On March 24, the Moscow City Court began considering the criminal case of former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov and his subordinate Anton Filatov. The defendants are accused of embezzling and legalizing a total of more than four billion rubles in two episodes — when buying ferries for the Kerch ferry, and withdrawing funds from Intercommerce Bank on the eve of its bankruptcy. In addition, Ivanov is accused of receiving bribes worth more than 1 billion rubles from Defense Ministry contractors, but this episode is not currently being considered in the Moscow City Court — the investigation is still underway.

What is Timur Ivanov accused of?

Former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov pleaded not guilty to all charges that the Moscow City Court began considering on March 24. We are talking about the embezzlement of 216 million rubles for the purchase of ferries for the Kerch ferry, almost 4 billion rubles in the bankruptcy of the bank "Intercommerce", and the legalization of these funds. The ex-official declared his innocence, speaking at a meeting of the Moscow City Court.

Timur Ivanov was detained in April 2024 and charged with accepting a particularly large bribe. According to investigators, the former deputy Minister of Defense provided patronage to Defense Ministry contractors, who performed work on private facilities owned by him for free. The amount of the alleged bribe is more than one billion rubles.

In April of the same year, the investigation opened another criminal case against Ivanov, charging him with two episodes of embezzlement on an especially large scale (Part 4 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code) and one episode of money laundering (part 4 of Article 174.1 of the Criminal Code).

The first "wasteful" episode was the purchase in Greece in 2015 of two ferries for the Kerch ferry crossing for €12.4 million. The purchase of equipment was entrusted to Oboronlogistics, a company subordinate to the Ministry of Defense and a subsidiary of Oboronstroy JSC, which was then headed by Timur Ivanov. Ivanov's subordinate Anton Filatov was the head of Oboronlogistics, and he also ended up in the dock.

The purchase was carried out through an offshore company, Turinvest Services Limited, registered in Hong Kong. The investigation believes that as a result of the transaction, the state suffered damage in the amount of 216 million rubles.

In addition, Ivanov is accused of embezzling € 45 million in 2016 (3.9 billion rubles at the exchange rate of that time) and legalizing these funds. According to the investigation, the money was withdrawn from the bank "Intercommerce" by issuing fictitious contracts for the purchase and sale of currency. The Deposit Insurance Agency, which became the legal successor of the "collapsed" bank, and representatives of the Oboronstroy company filed lawsuits in the amount of more than four billion rubles.

In addition to Ivanov and Filatov, Alexander Bugaevsky, former chairman of the Board of Interkommerce Bank, as well as Felix Neuberg, a top manager of the bank and a citizen of Germany and Israel, participated in this episode. They were put on the international wanted list, arrested in absentia, and the materials against them were placed in separate proceedings.

The Central Bank stripped Intercommerce of its license on February 8, 2016 for a number of violations of the law.

The Moscow City Court has not yet considered the bribery case, and the investigation is still underway.

The dispute over state secrets

Timur Ivanov did not comment on the accusation voiced by the prosecutor, saying that his position had been agreed with his lawyers, and they would announce it. The second defendant, Anton Filatov, was more verbose. He also pleaded not guilty and told the court that, in his opinion, the accusation was "based on erroneous arguments of the investigation."

— I think that it (the accusation. – Ed.) is illegal and erroneous,— Filatov said. — The materials of the criminal case completely refute this accusation. The accusation is based on the conjectures of the investigation.

Next, Timur Ivanov's subordinate wanted to analyze each of the three episodes separately, but the state prosecutor interrupted him and demanded that the process be closed. According to the prosecutor, in his explanation Filatov "intended to touch on state secrets" contained in the case file.

Timur Ivanov's lawyer Murad Musaev opposed the closure of the trial. He stated that "the state prosecution simply wants to hide what is happening inside the process from the public."

— We all, both the defense and the accused, know perfectly well what can be voiced in public and what is not, no one was going to touch any state secrets, — said the lawyer. — The publicity of the process is still not an empty phrase.

All participants, except the state prosecution, opposed the closure of the trial. According to them, all the data previously announced and disclosed has long been known to the press. However, the court decided to close the process.

Ivanov's common-law wife, Maria Kitaeva, who also attended the hearing, was asked by the court to leave the courtroom. This happened after she allowed herself to laugh at the court's decision to close the trial.

What is the punishment facing the former Deputy Minister of Defense

The embezzlement that Timur Ivanov is accused of is the misuse of funds that were originally obtained legally, Alexey Gavrishev, head of AVG Legal, explained to Izvestia.

"This is the difference between embezzlement and fraud, where a person is accused of having illegally seized money from the start," the lawyer said. — In the case of Timur Ivanov, the investigation obviously decided that the money was not spent for the purposes for which it was provided. As a result, damage was caused.

According to Alexey Gavrishev, the article on embezzlement provides for a penalty of up to ten years in prison, usually in a general regime colony with the possibility of applying for parole.

— That is, the article is quite loyal and flexible, — said the lawyer.

At the same time, according to the article on legalization, Ivanov faces up to seven years in prison, Egor Panin, a lawyer at the Avex Yust law firm, told Izvestia. According to him, both embezzlement and legalization are serious crimes, the final term for which will be determined by the court by partial addition of punishments.

— According to this rule, the final punishment cannot exceed the sanction of the strictest article by more than half, — the lawyer explained. — In the case of Ivanov, this is embezzlement and up to ten years in prison. This means that the maximum term he can receive is 15 years.

A guilty plea, or even better, the conclusion of a pre—trial cooperation agreement, is the dream of every investigator who investigates such a complex criminal case, the lawyer added.

"Therefore, the absence of a guilty plea will undoubtedly complicate the process of proving guilt," he noted. — Any guilt, including the one that the accused admits, must be proved in order to exclude the fact of a slip.

If the investigation proves Timur Ivanov's guilt, his failure to admit guilt may worsen his position in the eyes of the court, Alexey Gavrishev agreed.