Source: https://en.crimerussia.com/organizedcrime/ulyanovsk-gang-filmed-abductions-of-entrepreneurs-/
Timestamp: 2019-10-23 03:47:08
Document Index: 510053657

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'Art. 111', 'art 3', 'Art. 163', 'art 3', 'Art. 126', 'art 3', 'Art. 222', 'art 1', 'Art. 309']

Ulyanovsk gang filmed abductions of entrepreneurs
14:57 / 28.01.2019 To russian version
One of the criminal counts of the group Photo: First Ulyanovsk Portal
Four entrepreneurs fell victims to the criminal gang from August 2012 to October 2016.
Ulyanovsk region jury found three local residents guilty of extortion. Sergey Agafonov, Artush Saakyan and Evgeny Romanov were found to have videos in which they beat up businesspeople. According to investigators, from August 2012 to October 2016, four entrepreneurs fell victims to the criminal group, from whom convicts extorted money using weapons.
As a result, three members of the gang were found guilty under part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Intentional Infliction of a Grave Injury), item (a), part 3 of Art. 163 of the Criminal Code (Extortion committed with violence by an organized group), item (a), part 3 of Art. 126 of the Criminal Code (Abduction committed out of mercenary motives by an organized group), part 3 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code (Illegal Bearing of Firearms and Ammunition committed by an organized group), part 1 and 2 of Art. 309 of the Criminal Code (Compulsion of a victim to give false testimony joined with threat of murder and infliction of injury to human health, as well as bribery of a victim).
The jurors found Agafonov, Saakyan and Romanov guilty. The members of the criminal group, depending on the role of each, were sentenced to 12, 11.5 and 11 years in a strict-regime colony, respectively.
Of note, the accusation was based mainly on the testimony of one of the abducted persons, the base manager, Denis K. According to official information, the members of the group demanded that he give them 13% of the profits monthly. He refused.
In October 2016, the gang members kidnapped him, tortured, and then forced him to confess to a number of crimes on camera in order to blackmail him with the records and demand the very 13% of his revenue. The abductee managed to escape, and the criminals were detained.
The First Ulyanovsk Portal pens that the accused did not admit to involvement in crimes during court sessions. Only one of them partially pleaded guilty to the episode concerning Denis K., but asked to qualify his actions as arbitrariness: he really was in the forest belt that day, but only wanted to make the victim admit that he had set fire to his car. After that, he let him go.
Relatives of the defendants also did not agree with the accusation. In March last year, they sent an official appeal to the media, in which they pointed out inconsistencies in the case. The video with Denis K., in which he confesses to crimes, was also actively spread on social networks.
Video: Full confession of Ulyanovsk killer Denis Korablyov
At the same time, Novaya Gazeta reported in its investigation that Denis K. was an assistant to the local athlete and businessman Sergey Smirnov. “His spouse is a deputy of the city duma, a well-known lawyer in the city, who works at the bar association established by Viktor Vinogradov. Alexey, the son of the lawyer Vinogradov, is the Deputy Head of the Investigative Directorate of the ICR of the Ulyanovsk region and is acquainted with Sergey Smirnov.”
Tags: Ulyanovsk region Investigative Committee Courts