Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly in Russia's Federal Ministries

Court arrests almost 122 mn euro on accounts of

Russian ex-minister Abyzov

Mikhail Abyzov - © Donat Sorokin/TASS

MOSCOW - Moscow’s Basmanny Court arrested 121.7 million euro on bank accounts of former Russian minister Mikhail Abyzov, who is facing fraud charges, court spokesperson Yunona Tsareva told TASS on Wednesday.

"On July 4, the Basmanny Court upheld a request by investigative bodies to impose arrest on financial assets belonging to defendant Mikhail Abyzov, amounting to 121.7 million euro, placed into banking institutions," the spokeswoman said.

On April 1, the Basmanny Court issued a ruling to block Abyzov’s money amounting to more than 437 mln rubles ($6.8 mln) at settlement accounts. On April 2, the same court ruled to arrest his property - two land plots and two residential houses in the Moscow Region, three apartments and four rooms, and a car slot in Moscow.

Mikhail Abyzov, who had been minister for open government affairs in 2012-2018, was detained on March 26 on charges of embezzling four billion rubles (about 61.82 million US dollars at the current exchange rate) and setting up a criminal group.

According to investigators, between April 2011 and November 2014, Abyzov as a beneficiary owner of a number of offshore commercial organizations set up a criminal network and steered its activities. Along with other individuals, he embezzled four billion rubles belonging to the Siberian Energy Company and Regional Power Networks, electricity generating and supplying companies in the Novosibirsk region. The Russian Investigative Committee says the stolen funds were entirely channeled abroad to an offshore company controlled by Abyzov.

Abyzov and other suspects in the case have pleaded not guilty.