A counterintelligence agent from the FSB protected a gang of Russian carders

[Carding]

The Cheka-OGPU learned that Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, the head of the counterintelligence department of the Perm FSB, who was detained for a 100-million bribe, protected a large hacker group that traded information from bank cards. They paid him for patronage, and then handed over 100 million rubles for their release.

In February 2022, it became known about the defeat of another gang of hackers-carders. 6 members of the group were detained: entrepreneur Vladislav Gilev, founder of a large office selling metal structures Artem Bystry,*General Director of the Saratovfilm Film Company Denis Pachevsky, businessman Alexander Kovalev, unemployed Yaroslav Solovyov and head of the well-known Perm IT office Get-Net Artem Zaitsev. Tverskoy Court of Moscow arrested all six suspects in the case No. 12201007754000092, initiated under Article 187 part 2-illegal turnover of payment funds.

As the CHEKA-OGPU found out, hackers sold data from European and American cards, and also stole money from them. The work went through two sites - trump-dmps.ru and fe-accl8.ru. Traffic from them went to the data center, the base of which belongs to LLC "Get-Net" Zaitsev. In Perm, he is a well-known programmer, and his company supplies services to the local FSB. For example, in 2016, chekists bought communication channels from Zaitsev, and the following year they rented premises.

After the hackers were detained, Interior Ministry investigators began to notice a strange interest in the topic on the part of the head of the FSB department for the Perm Region. Grigory Tsaregorodtsev tried in every possible way to transfer the detainees to the Perm pre-trial detention center under the pretext of holding certain events. It turned out that Tsaregorodtsev for monthly payments acted as the "roof" of a group of hackers.

Moreover, a secret witness in the case: a girl (S. L. S.) said that Vladislav Gilev, who previously headed the Uralenergostroy trade and construction company (one of the partners of Transtechcom Bystry), gave Tsaregorodtsev 100 million rubles in cash. The broadcast was carried out by their mutual friend, Gilev's business partner, Alexander Kovalev. Also, according to the witness, through her Tsaregorodtsev tried to calm the hackers, claiming that he was doing everything possible to get them out of prison. However, after a year of being behind reshekta and repeated court rejections of defense petitions and appeals for mitigation of the preventive measure, the detainees allegedly decided to" merge " their handler and handed over the fact of transferring money intended for bribing investigators.

Tsaregorodtsev was arrested until November 7.

 

[Brother]

As the Cheka-OGPU learned, the express investigation into the case of receiving 100 million bribes by the leading officer of the FSB of the Russian Federation Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, which lasted just over six months, has been completed, the case has been transferred for consideration on the merits to the Perm Garrison Military Court, which on December 5 extended the preventive measure for the accused form of detention in a pre-trial detention center.

Tsaregorodtsev headed the division of the Perm FSB Directorate, which carries out activities in the field of information security, that is, it must identify cybercriminals. In reality, Tsaregorodtsev protected these same hackers for seven years, primarily the group of Kovalev and Gilev. Moreover, they didn’t just give him money every month, the cybercriminals helped him (who was not allowed to travel abroad), using someone else’s passport details, to relax with his whole family in the best hotels in Russia

The relationship with hackers of a high-ranking employee of the FSB of the Russian Federation grew into a friendly one; they communicated as families and spent weekends together. When the hackers were imprisoned by investigators from Moscow, they gave Tsaregorodtsev 100 million rubles for him to organize their transfer to Perm and release. And they waited for a long time - a year - for help, but they don’t abandon friends. But they didn’t receive it from Tsaregorodtsev. After this, they decided to write statements about giving a bribe, for which the preventive measure for them was replaced from being in a pre-trial detention center to house arrest.

Considering the speed with which the GVSU investigated this case, we can expect the minimum possible sentence for Tsaregorodtsev.

Meanwhile, for 7 months now, one of the witnesses in the Tsaregorodtsev case, whose house was also searched, has been unable to get a criminal case initiated regarding the theft of 450,000 rubles and 27 gold bars worth 1.5 million rubles from him during the search.

After the witness’s first appeal to the GVSU to the head of the investigation team in the Tsaregorodtsev case, senior investigator for especially important cases, Colonel Yu.G. Samsonov, the investigation miraculously discovered 27 missing bars, for which the witness provided official documents indicating their serial numbers. True, they found gold only in words; their actual presence, as well as the circumstances of their discovery, are kept in the strictest confidence from the witness.

It turned out to be even more difficult to find out what happened with the missing 450,000 rubles, so the witness filed statements with the RF IC about the theft 4 (!!!) times, which were again and again sent to the same investigator Yu.G. Samsonov, in the hope apparently, for the colonel to conduct an honest, unbiased, impartial, objective investigation against his subordinates regarding the theft reported by a witness.

 

[putapra]

@Carding Do you do online mentoring? If so, I really need your advice and all the information I can. Leave your Telegram for contact or send it to me privately.

 

[Teacher]

On February 6, the Perm Military Garrison Court began to consider the criminal case for the third time against ex-employee of the FSB Directorate for the Perm Territory Grigory Tsaregorodtsev. Initially, it was publicly known that he was accused of a bribe of 100 million rubles received at the end of January 2022 from Perm businessmen Alexander Kovalev and Vladislav Gilev. They were detained immediately after this in the case of “Russian hackers.” Tsaregorodtsev, according to investigators, promised them to “resolve the issue” of terminating the criminal case against them. It turned out that Tsaregorodtsev received about 160 million rubles in total.

The first hearing in the case was scheduled for December 19, 2023, but it was not considered at the request of the defense. The next time the case was postponed on January 25, due to Tsaregorodtsev’s lack of a lawyer. Now the accused has two lawyers: Dmitry Roshchin (Moscow) and Svetlana Kropotina (Perm).

As Properm.ru journalist reports from the courtroom, state prosecutor Alexander Sladkov, the accused and his lawyers asked the court to allow journalists only to announce the indictment and sentence. This is connected with official and family secrets, as well as state secrets. The court decided that journalists would be removed during the investigation of documents intended for official use, as well as other secret data.

The accused himself asked for a ban on photographs; the court partially granted this request, allowing filming only from the back, since Tsaregorodtsev was previously a counterintelligence officer.

The defense of the accused asked the court to change the preventive measure to a more lenient one and to release Tsaregorodtsev from the pre-trial detention center, since he needs treatment and consultation with doctors. The defendant said that since last year he has also been unable to heal a fracture and needs medical consultation, which he was not provided with in the pre-trial detention center.

Among the options that lawyers offer are house arrest or bail. The collateral is not money, but a ¼ share in an apartment worth 4.6 million rubles. The home belongs to the accused, mother and sister.

The defense claims that Tsaregorodtsev has already been fired from service, so he will not be able to influence the witnesses in the case. He partially admitted his guilt and agreed with a more lenient classification of the crime under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - fraud on an especially large scale.

Closing indictment

The state prosecutor explained that Tsaregorodtsev’s service record was negative. In total, the accused, according to the investigation, received 160 million rubles for the period from 2016 to 2022 for illegal inaction in his service. Entrepreneurs Alexander Kovalev and Vladislav Gilev gave him money; they are planned to be interrogated via video conferencing from Moscow. Since the court ordered the materials to be read out and witnesses to be questioned behind closed doors, the media will not be allowed in after lunch.

The accused was surprised by State Prosecutor Alexander Sladkov’s remark about his job description. He will ask for clarification of this information, since he had no complaints, received awards and was promoted until the moment of his arrest. Tsaregorodtsev said that he sees his actions not as a bribe, but as fraud. He promised to explain this to the court in more detail during interrogation. As he said today, he was given money for help in solving problems on the part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and not extraditing him to a foreign state for what he had done, which, in principle, due to his official duties, he could not do: “People came up with something in their heads and thought it was so, but this was not within my authority and I did not intend to do so. There is still no verdict against them; the article under which they are accused is within the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the FSB.”

Kovalev and Gilev were detained after receiving the last part of the money of 100 million rubles two weeks before the arrest, but they did not receive any help from Tsaregorodtsev, he simply misled them, says lawyer Dmitry Roshchin.

State prosecutor Alexander Sladkov, after the lawyers’ words, clarified that the accused had to identify crimes and stop them. Including stopping the activities of hackers and transferring data about them to the police. Contrary to this, Tsaregorodtsev himself committed a crime.

How did the communication between the accused and the hackers begin?

In 2016, Tsaregorodtsev learned about a group of hackers, Sladkov, deputy military prosecutor of the Perm Territory, said in his speech. Then the accused decided that he could get money from them for their patronage. He told Kovalev that he knew about their crimes and offered to give a bribe. The latter agreed.

They did not agree on the final amount, but Kovalev had to pay the first 30 million by the end of 2017. Kovalev began to give money - amounts from 12 to 30 million rubles, and in total - 60 million rubles - he transferred from 2017 to 2022. On the eve of the arrest of the hackers, Tsaregorodtsev demanded 100 million rubles from them for “resolving issues.” Late in the evening of January 23, 2022, the defendant received this money and, according to investigators, took the suitcase with the money home in Kovalev’s car.

What happened before?

The detention of Tsaregorodtsev for a bribe of 100 million rubles became known in September last year. He was arrested on April 25 in Perm and was charged with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale. On the same day, and he was interrogated as a defendant, he did not admit his guilt, but later confirmed that he received money from his acquaintances, persons involved in the so-called “Russian hackers” case. Subsequently, he was moved to a pre-trial detention center in Moscow, and a preventive measure was chosen for him there.

A criminal case against “Russian hackers” was opened in January 2022; in February, federal media reported that the Tverskoy Court of Moscow sent to pre-trial detention the general director of the Saratovfilm film company Denis Pachevsky, entrepreneur Kovalev, Transtechcom employee Artem Bystrykh, co-owner of the Perm “Get” -no” Artem Zaitsev, as well as two unemployed from Perm - Gilev and Yaroslav Solovyov. They are accused of illegally taking money from foreign bank accounts.

All of them were charged under Part 2 of Art. 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal use of computer programs intended for receiving, issuing, transferring funds, committed by a group of persons). It is known that 23 gold bars, money in various currencies and other valuables were seized from them during the arrest. In the spring of 2023, they told the security forces that they had given money to Tsaregorodtsev before his arrest.

Now the case of “Russian hackers” is being considered by the Savyolovsky Court in Moscow, several defendants in the case still remain in pre-trial detention, and for some the preventive measure has been changed to a more lenient one.

 

[Teacher]

As it became known Rucriminal.info The 235th Garrison military Court refused to accept the complaint of a witness in a criminal case against Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, a senior employee of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Perm Region (head of the Perm department of the Federal Security Service, which operates in the field of information security) for the seizure of large amounts of money and gold bars. Liya Sagadeeva asked to cancel the arrest of 4.5 million rubles, 154.5 thousand dollars and 100 gold bars belonging to her. The complaint stated, in particular, that during the search, the witnesses were directly subordinate to the investigator and were virtually absent during the investigative action. According to Sagadeeva, other procedural violations were also committed.

The seized money and bars were recognized as material evidence in the Tsaregorodtsev case. The Court concluded that the witness "is not deprived of the opportunity to make a relevant request during the criminal proceedings against" the FSB officer, and the requirements put forward in her complaint "at present can only be subject to verification during the criminal proceedings, as well as during the consideration of the case by the court of appeal or cassation instance".

The criminal case against Tsaregorodtsev is being considered by the Perm Garrison Military Court. The next meeting is scheduled for March 4.

 

[Father]

The prosecutor's office demands 9 years in a penal colony for an officer accused of a multimillion-dollar bribe.

In the Perm Garrison Military Court, the parties debated the criminal case against the former head of one of the divisions of the regional department of the FSB, Grigory Tsaregorodtsev. State Prosecutor Alexander Sladkov said that he considers Tsaregorodtsev's guilt in accepting a bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code) in the amount of 160 million rubles fully proven.

According to the main military investigation department of the TFR, Tsaregorodtsev received this money in several installments from entrepreneurs Alexander Kovalev and Vladislav Gilev. Tsaregorodtsev found out that some businessmen he knew had an illegal business connected with the sale of stolen credit card data.

Instead of taking measures to stop this illegal activity, Tsaregorodtsev offered Kovalev and Gilev his patronage for money and not conducting operational search measures against them.

Currently, the case of the group, which included Gilev, Kovalev and four other defendants charged under the article on illegal circulation of payment funds, is being considered in the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow. The defendants ' detention was extended until the end of April, despite their cooperation with the investigation.

The prosecution called mitigating circumstances for Tsaregorodtsev the presence of three young children, as well as assistance to the investigation in the search for funds and property purchased with a bribe. The prosecutor proposed to sentence Tsaregorodtsev to 9 years and 8 months in a high-security penal colony, a fine of 320 million rubles, deprivation of military rank, and a ban on holding certain positions for 9 years. Also, according to the state prosecutor, it is necessary to confiscate the property registered in the name of the defendant and one of his relatives. We are talking about Land Rover and Mercedes cars, an apartment, a parking space, as well as a plot of land, $52 thousand and five gold bars. This will be deducted from 160 million rubles, which, according to the military prosecutor's office, the former employee now owes to the state.

During the investigation, it turned out that Grigory Tsaregorodtsev transferred part of the amount received to a woman he knew. During a search of her home, cash and 100 gold bars weighing one kilogram were found and seized, for a total value of about 25 million rubles. Subsequently, the woman provided evidence that these valuables and funds legally belong to her, including documents on income for the last 15 years exceeding 72 million rubles. These arguments were sufficient for the military prosecutor's office to decide on the return of the seized property to its owner.

Tsaregorodtsev himself did not deny receiving the money, but claimed that he did not commit bribery, but fraud. His defense insisted that under the law Tsaregorodtsev was not obliged to conduct operations against Kovalev and Gilev, since the investigation of crimes of this kind falls within the competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The defense also presented arguments about the difficult life situation of the accused, including the presence of a seriously ill child and the need to provide for the family. The lawyers asked the court to impose a suspended sentence, finding him guilty under Article 159 of the Criminal Code.

On April 11, Grigory Tsaregorodtsev is scheduled to make a final statement, after which the court will leave for sentencing.

 

[Father]

The FSB officer "protected" Perm carders for bribes worth 160 million rubles.

In the Savelovsky court of Moscow, a sentence was passed to members of a criminal group from the Perm Region, who were found guilty of illegal circulation of payment funds. Six defendants provided Visa and MasterCard credit card details of such major American banks as Banc of America, Capital One Banc, and Fidelity Information Services. This data allowed customers to make purchases without the knowledge of the real owners of payment cards.

The most severe punishments in this case were received by two defendants-Alexander Kovalev and Artem Zaitsev. They were sentenced to real terms of imprisonment-4 and 3.5 years in a general regime colony, respectively. The remaining defendants, including Denis Pachevsky, General Director of Saratovfilm Film Company LLC,Artem Bystroykh and Artem Zaitsev, employees of Transtechcom LLC and Get-net LLC, respectively, as well as Vladislav Gilev and Yaroslav Solovyov, were sentenced to pre-trial detention or forced labor.

The court session was attended by both the accused who were in custody and escorted to the courtroom, and those who had previously changed the preventive measure to a milder one-a ban on certain actions. The latter arrived at the court on their own, accompanied by lawyers.

Initially, the state prosecution demanded that all the defendants be found guilty under Part 2 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal turnover of payment funds committed by an organized group, up to 7 years in prison). The prosecutor asked to appoint the group members from 5,5 to 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony, as well as confiscate their money and cars to the state income.

According to the investigation, members of the criminal community provided customers, mainly Russian citizens, with Visa and MasterCard credit card details. This data made it possible to make purchases bypassing the regulatory authorities in our country. The scheme worked as follows: the client transferred the required amount to the card details provided by the criminals, and then immediately purchased the desired product or service with this money. At the same time, the real holder of the compromised card has not received any information about the operations performed for some time.

However, soon fraud with bank cards was revealed, and the investigation was taken up by the US FBI. American law enforcement officers assumed that the hacker group operates from the territory of Russia, and passed the relevant data to Russian colleagues. After that, employees of the K department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation identified the attackers, using, among other things, an operational combination for conducting a control purchase, and in early 2022 detained the suspects in Perm. The defendants were transferred to Moscow, where the Basmanny Court, at the request of the investigation, took them into custody.

The investigation also revealed the involvement of Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, an employee of the regional FSB Department, in an illegal scheme created by hackers. According to investigators, the officer received bribes from criminals in the amount of 160 million rubles for general patronage of their activities and non-prosecution. And when the members of the group were detained, Tsaregorodtsev tried to convince them not to disclose information about his involvement to the investigation, promising in return to transfer the prisoners to the Perm pre-trial detention center and stop their criminal prosecution in the future.

A criminal case was opened against Grigory Tsaregorodtsev himself on charges of taking a bribe on a particularly large scale (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In April 2023, Tsaregorodtsev was detained and transferred to Moscow, where, by the decision of the Basmanny Court, he was taken into custody. According to media reports, at a debate in the Perm Garrison Court, the military prosecutor demanded that Grigory be sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in a penal colony and a fine of 320 million rubles. The officer himself denied the charges of bribery, insisting on re-qualification for fraud, since he did not have the opportunity to really influence the course of the investigation of the hackers case.

Returning to the case of the hacker group, the active cooperation of a number of defendants with the investigation allowed the lawyers of Pachevsky, Bystry and Zaitsev to achieve a change in the measure of restraint for them a year ago to prohibit certain actions.

During the trial, the defense tried to get the most lenient sentences for the remaining defendants, insisting on assigning terms that had actually already been served in the pre-trial detention center, or conditional sentences. The lawyers referred to the lack of evidence that the card data sold during the control purchase could have been used for payments at all, and also to the fact that all the defendants were not familiar with each other before the indictment.

As a result, judge Dmitry Neudakhin decided to reduce the sentence in comparison with the requirements of the state prosecution. Only two defendants received real terms of imprisonment-Alexander Kovalev received 4 years in a penal colony, Artem Zaitsev-3.5 years (he was taken into custody in the courtroom).The rest were given conditional sentences: Vladislav Gilev and Yaroslav Solovyov were given sentences that they had already served in a pre-trial detention center. Denis Pachevsky and Artem Bystroykh were sentenced to 3 years and 3 months of forced labor each, with a deduction of 13% of their salaries to the state income. The court also granted the demand for confiscation of property belonging to criminals.

The defendants and their lawyers were generally satisfied with the verdict. Even those who are assigned real prison terms can expect to be released soon. The lawyers said that they will not appeal against the imposed penalties yet, although they intend to discuss the issue of contesting the confiscation of property with their clients.

 

[Father]

Members of the hacker group got off with lenient punishments

Savelovsky court of Moscow passed a verdict in the case against six hackers from the Perm Region. They were found guilty of illegal circulation of payment funds. According to investigators, the defendants provided customers with Visa and MasterCard credit card data from banks such as Banc of America, Capital One Banc and Fidelity Information Services, which allowed them to make payments without the knowledge of their real owners. Only two of the defendants, Alexander Kovalev and Artem Zaitsev, received real terms — 4 and 3.5 years in prison, while the rest were assigned either sentences already served in the pre — trial detention center or correctional labor.

Three of the six defendants — Denis Pachevsky, General Director of Saratovfilm Film Company LLC, and Artem Bystry and Artem Zaitsev, employees of Transtechcom LLC and Get-net LLC — arrived at the verdict reading accompanied by their own lawyers. The fact is that a year later, after they were arrested by a court decision in February 2022,the measure of restraint was changed to a ban on certain actions. Their accomplices Vladislav Gilev, Yaroslav Solovyov and individual entrepreneur Alexander Kovalev were taken to the courtroom under escort.

On the eve of the debate, the prosecutor asked to find all the defendants guilty under Part 2 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal turnover of payment funds committed by an organized group, up to 7 years in prison) and to appoint them from 5.5 to 6 years in a general regime colony. She also suggested that the court confiscate the previously arrested funds and foreign cars of the defendants.

According to the case file, the defendants were charged with " acquiring, storing for the purpose of selling, using and selling electronic means that contain payment information similar to the payment card of American banks."

According to law enforcement officials, the defendants provided customers with Visa and MasterCard credit card data from a number of major American banks, which allowed them to make purchases. According to security officials, the hackers ' services were used by those citizens, mainly Russians, who wanted to hide the purchase of expensive items from the controlling and supervisory authorities in their country. At the same time, the purchase scheme was simple and did not cause damage to the real owner of the card: the hacker client transferred the necessary amount to the card and immediately purchased the necessary purchase with it. At the same time, the cardholder did not receive any information about the operations performed with it for some time.

However, in the end, the cardholders found out about the fraud with them, and the FBI took up the investigation. They assumed that hackers were operating from the territory of the Russian Federation, and passed on the relevant information to their Russian colleagues. After that, operatives of the "K" department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs found a site where a service for purchasing bank card data was supposed, identified the attackers, conducted a control purchase, and in early 2022 detained the suspects. They were taken to Moscow, where they were taken into custody by the decision of the Basmanny Court.

Hackers acknowledged the sale of credit card data made during a control purchase. In addition, some of them testified that their illegal business in Perm was patronized by Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, an employee of the regional FSB Department.

A criminal case was opened against the chekist. According to investigators, Mr. Tsaregorodtsev received bribes from hackers for general patronage and not bringing them to justice in the amount of 160 million rubles. And after learning about their detention, he sent them through third parties so that the members of the criminal group would not disclose their connections to investigators, promising in return to resolve the issue of transferring the accused to the Perm pre-trial detention center with "subsequent termination of their criminal prosecution."

In April 2023, Mr. Tsaregorodtsev was detained and also sent to Moscow, where, by the decision of the Basmanny Court, he was placed in a pre-trial detention center. He was charged with Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale). As Kommersant reported, the Perm Garrison Military Court recently held a debate on the case against Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, during which the military prosecutor asked the court to sentence the chekist to nine years and eight months in a penal colony with a fine of 320 million rubles. The officer himself denies bribery, insisting that it can only be about fraud, since he had no opportunity to really influence the course of the investigation of the hackers ' case.

The hackers ' active cooperation with the investigation allowed the lawyers of Denis Pachevsky, Artem Bystry and Artem Zaitsev to secure their release in February last year under a ban on certain actions.

During the debate, the defendants ' lawyers insisted on assigning their clients time served in the pre-trial detention center, or conditional sentences. In particular, lawyers Eduard Churgulia and Vladimir Davydov pointed out that there was no evidence in the case file that the card data sold during the control purchase could have served as a means of payment at all, primarily because such information was not received from the American banks themselves. The defense lawyers also asked the court to exclude the phrase "as part of a group" from the charge, since almost all of its alleged participants were not familiar with each other before being brought to criminal responsibility.

As a result, judge Dmitry Neudakhin appointed punishments more lenient to the defendants than the state prosecution had requested.

Alexander Kovalev received 4 years in a penal colony, Artem Zaitsev-3.5 years (he was taken into custody in the courtroom). Vladislav Gilev and Yaroslav Solovyov were given sentences that they had already served in a pre-trial detention center. Denis Pachevsky and Artem Bystroykh were sentenced to 3 years and 3 months of forced labor each, with a deduction of 13% of their salaries to the state income. At the same time, the court confiscated the previously arrested foreign cars, as well as funds in the accounts of the defendants, to the state revenue.

The defendants were generally satisfied with the verdict: even those who are assigned real terms should soon be released. Lawyers for Churguliya and Davydov said that they are unlikely to appeal the sentences imposed on their client. The issue of appealing against the confiscation of property will be resolved after discussion with clients.

• Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6634646

 

[Father]

How the major lost his real estate and freedom for collaborating with fraudsters.

The Perm Garrison Military Court has sentenced former FSB officer Grigory Tsaregorodtsev on charges of patronizing a group of hackers.

Tsaregorodtsev is charged with receiving bribes totaling 160 million rubles from a hacker group, and now he is sentenced to 9 years in a high-security penal colony and a fine of 320 million rubles. The court also ordered the confiscation of Tsaregorodtsev's property, including premium real estate and cars.

The basis for criminal prosecution was the testimony of Perm entrepreneurs Alexander Kovalev and Vladislav Gilev, who were detained in 2022 for illegal financial transactions with bank cards of US residents. Despite having a legitimate IT business, the court found that they and their accomplices sold card data, allowing them to make purchases without their owners ' knowledge.

Tsaregorodtsev was detained in April last year and transferred to Moscow, where he admitted receiving money, but disputed the charges of accepting a bribe, claiming that he simply deceived entrepreneurs and could not influence their criminal prosecution. The hearings in the case, taking into account the specifics of Tsaregorodtsev's official activities, were held in closed mode, with the exception of the announcement of the charge, debate and verdict.

In addition, the court stripped Tsaregorodtsev of the military rank of "reserve major" and banned him from holding certain positions for 8 years after his release. Property registered to relatives of the accused was also confiscated in favor of the State. The fate of the seized $52,000 and gold bars will be determined in civil proceedings. Tsaregorodtsev intends to appeal the verdict after reading the motivational part.

 

[Tomcat]

As it became known to the CHEKA-OGPU, the Central District Military Court received an appeal against the sentence of Grigory Tsaregorodtsev, a senior employee of the FSB department for the Perm Region, who received nine years in a penal colony and a fine of 320 million rubles for receiving a bribe from a hacker group. The guilty verdict was handed down by the Perm Garrison Military Court on April 15. The date of consideration of the complaint has not yet been set. Tsaregorodtsev's interests are represented in court by as many as three lawyers.