FSB officers arrested in Merlion case on suspicion of especially large extortion

[Lord777]

The investigation of Melion's IT distributor continues. Its defendants were FSB officers-they were taken into custody for suspicion of extortion of billions of rubles.

Potential involvement of law enforcement agencies

The investigation of the case of Merlion IT distributor, related to the arrest of its co-founders in 2020, continues, and over time, the number of its defendants increases. According to RBC, citing people familiar with the investigation, the list now includes several employees of the Federal Security Service of Russia.

According to the publication, we are talking about employees of one of the departments of the department who oversaw the activities of law enforcement agencies. Their names and surnames, as well as their numbers, were not disclosed, but all of them were taken into custody amid suspicion of extortion of money on a particularly large scale.

According to publicly available information, the security forces are suspected of extorting 5 billion rubles directly from the management of Merlion. In exchange for this amount, they promised to stop investigative actions, according to one of the interlocutors of the publication.

First details

At the time of the publication of the material, it was known that all the security forces were arrested in the week from November 6 to November 12, 2023. According to the source, Sergei Romodanovsky, the former head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (SU TFR) for the North – Western District of Moscow, was also in custody with them.

A similar fate befell the investigator of the same SU TFR Andrey Zheryutin. Along with him, the head of the Khoroshevsky investigative department of the same SU TFR Rustam Yusupov was also detained.

On November 17, 2023, according to the Telegram channel of the CHEKA-OGPU, a series of searches took place in the building of the FSB department for Moscow and the Moscow region. Whether there is a connection between them and the arrest of security forces last week, at the time of publication of the material was not reliably known.

According to RBC, the arrest of all the listed employees of the Investigative Committee took place on November 10, 2023 by the decision of the Basmanny Court of Moscow. They are accused of committing an impressive list of crimes, including violation of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organizing a criminal community using their official position or participating in it) and Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale).

Separately, it should be noted that Sergei Romodanovsky, who is the son of the former head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia, General Konstantin Romodanovsky, and Rustam Yusupov were detained with the support of the FSB.

An incredible twist

Alexey Nesnov, a former subordinate of Sergei Romodanovsky, is also being investigated in the case. He was assigned to investigate the case of an "attempt" on the former CEO of Merlion Vyacheslav Simonenko, which started the whole story, which lasts for more than three years. During these events, Merlion repeatedly changed its CEO-Dmitry Vinogradov replaced Simonenko, and in February 2023, a veteran of the company Sergey Raskolov took over this post. He has been working there intermittently since 2003.

The Merlion case began with the arrest in November 2020 of three co – owners of the company-Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov (currently retired from the number of co-owners) and Alexey Abramov, as well as the company's former vice president for security Boris Levin. They were opposed by Vyacheslav Simonenko, who accused them of trying to kill him and his family members by setting fire to his home in 2015. At the same time, the alleged executor of the "order" appeared – a certain Grigory Zherenov, a veteran of military operations in the Donbass, who turned himself in to the police.

At the beginning of 2022, the investigation of the case went in a completely different direction. The criminal case against Mangutov, Karchev, Abramov and Levin was closed, each of them was released, and at the same time the investigation took on Vyacheslav Simonenko.

A criminal case was opened against the ex - CEO of Merlion, to which Zherenov's confessions were again attached, but this time they were completely different. The "arsonist" confessed that he had previously given deliberately false testimony against the co-owners of the IT distributor.

Even more actors

Zherenov's testimony, according to Kommersant, stated that he was part of an organized criminal community, which included, among others, Simonenko. The main goal of the group was to capture Merlion and its Citilink retailer. Further investigation revealed that to implement this plan, Simonenko used the "services" of the so-called "resolvers", after which the list of defendants in the case instantly expanded.

According to Kommersant, the "solvers" are the aforementioned investigator Alexey Nesnov, and together with him – senior inspector of the eighth department of the Personnel Department of the Investigative Committee Alexander Kireev, General Director of the company "Complex Legal Protection" Vasily Pashkevich and former employee of the Investigative Committee Kirill Kachur together with his father Vitaly Kachur. The latter, by the way, has a criminal record.

According to the UK, the group also includes some "other persons". CNews wrote that the listed "reshals" may be involved in other crimes. As of November 17, 2023, the investigation of the Merlion case continued.

 

[Teacher]

In the case of the arrest of the founders of a major Russian distributor Merlion, a new name is Anton Kaurov. This is a former FSB officer who is still listed as a suspect. Kaurov is not the first person involved in the case linked to the FSB. A few months ago, the investigation suspected several more law enforcement officers from this department of possible participation in the criminal scheme.

New arrest in the Merlion case

The investigation related to the arrest in 2020 of the co-founders of the IT distributor Merlion continues. According to RBC, the new name in this case is Anton Kaurov, and this is a former employee of the "M" department of the Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB).

Anton Kaurov was detained on suspicion of extorting money from the co-founders of Merlion. On February 28, 2024, he was detained by employees of the Investigative Committee of Russia( IC), the newspaper writes, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

The position that Kaurov held in the FSB, at the time of publication of the material was not disclosed, this information was not publicly available. According to the source, Anton Kaurov previously worked in one of the FSB departments that controlled the work of law enforcement agencies and courts.

The source also noted that currently Kaurov is communicating with investigators and giving evidence. "The name of this person appeared in the case file after interrogations of other defendants, "he added, without specifying which of the dozen people involved in the Merlion case pointed to Kaurov, and what role he allegedly played in all this.

Possible name match

The CNews editorial board found several references to FSB officer Anton Kaurov on the Internet. There is a possibility that they are talking about the full namesakes of the new defendant in the Merlion case. For example, on the website of the Advocate's Newspaper, in a note dated October 22, 2018, a certain FSB employee (not yet former)is mentioned Anton Kaurov, who on October 20, 2015, together with another FSB employee Roman Matveev, beat up a Moscow Region lawyer, Sergei Budko.

In an article on the Legal portal.Report of February 28, 2017 says that FSB officers (their names are not disclosed in the note) came to Budko's home to deliver him for questioning – the lawyer at that time was suspected of taking a bribe during the process of defending a criminal accused of extortion.

It is alleged that the FSB officers who came to Budko presented him with the investigator's instructions, as well as their identification cards, but the lawyer attacked them. At the end of February 2017, Budko, then 52, was found guilty of attempted large-scale fraud (Part 3 of Article 30, Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code) and violence against government officials (Part 1 of Article 318 of the Criminal Code).

FSB arrests

The previous arrests of FSB officers in the Merlion case took place in the period from 6 to 12 November 2023. As reported by CNews, among those taken into custody was Sergei Romodanovsky, the son of the former head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia (FMS), General Konstantin Romodanovsky, and the former head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (SU TFR) for the North-Western District of Moscow.

Together with him, an investigator of the same SU TFR Andrey Zheryutin was arrested. The head of the Khoroshevsky investigative department of the same SU TFR, Rustam Yusupov, was also detained.

According to RBC, the arrest of all the listed employees of the Investigative Committee took place on November 10, 2023 by the decision of the Basmanny Court of Moscow. They are accused of committing an impressive list of crimes, including violation of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organizing a criminal community using their official position or participating in it) and Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale).

The Merlion case is also being investigated by Alexey Nesnov, a former subordinate of Sergei Romodanovsky.

From suspects to victims

The story of Merlion, which eventually led to numerous arrests in Russian law enforcement agencies, began in November 2020, when three co – owners of the company-Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov (currently retired from the number of co-owners) and Alexey Abramov, as well as Boris Levin, the company's former vice president for security, were arrested. Former Merlion CEO Vyacheslav Simonenko filed a lawsuit against them, accusing them of trying to kill him and his family members by setting fire to his home in 2015.

At the end of 2020, a certain Grigory Zherenov, a veteran of military operations in the Donbass, came to the police with a confession-he introduced himself as the executor of this "order".

A year later, at the beginning of 2022, investigators began to lead the investigation in a completely different direction. Evidence of the innocence of Mangutov, Karchev, Abramov and Levin was found – the criminal case against them was closed, they were released, and the new suspect was Vyacheslav Simonenko himself, who until recently was considered the injured party.

A criminal case was opened against the ex - CEO of Merlion, to which Zherenov's confessions were again attached, but this time they were completely different. The "arsonist" confessed that he had previously given deliberately false testimony against the co-owners of the IT distributor.

Zherenov "turned in" several of his accomplices – he said that he participated in a criminal community, like Simonenko. Later, the investigators found that Simonenko turned for help to the "resolvers", which turned out to be the aforementioned investigator Alexey Nesnov, and together with him – senior inspector of the eighth department of the Personnel Department of the Investigative Committee Alexander Kireev, General director of the company" Complex Legal Protection " Vasily Pashkevich and a former employee of the Investigative Committee Kirill Kachur together with his father Vitaly Kachur.

According to the UK, the group also includes some "other persons". CNews wrote that the listed "reshals" may be involved in other crimes.

 

[Father]

The prosecution is asking for 24 years in a high-security penal colony for the former CEO of Merlion IT distributor Vyacheslav Simonenko. According to the investigation, he was an active member of the criminal group, which also included numerous employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB.

A quarter of a century of strict regime

The prosecutor requested 24 years in a high-security penal colony for the former general director of Merlion IT distributor Vyacheslav Simonenko, Kommersant reported. The hearing of the parties in his criminal case in the Khoroshevsky district Court of Moscow has ended.

Simonenko was arrested in February 2022 on suspicion of violating Articles 307 (deliberately false testimony of the victim), 306 (deliberately false denunciation) and 303 (falsification of evidence) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Earlier, he claimed that his former business partners in Merlion staged an attempt on his life and his family by setting fire to his home in 2015.

In July 2023, the criminal case against Simonenko was separated into a separate proceeding from the case on the activities of an organized criminal community (OPS), created by a former employee of the Investigative Committee (IC) Kirill Kachur and his father Vitaly Kachur.

The investigation established that Simonenko was one of the most active participants in the OPS, which committed serious corruption crimes against entrepreneurs with the aim of raiding their business and extorting money.

Simonenko denies guilt, the defense insists on acquittal.

Transformation from victim to accused

In 2020, co-owners of the Merlion IT holding Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov (retired from the list of co-owners), Alexey Abramov, as well as the company's former vice-president for security Boris Levin were arrested in a criminal case in which they were accused, and Simonenko was the victim.

Simonenko claimed that they tried to set fire to his country house in 2015 because of the accumulated $5 million that he kept in Merlion accounts.

In February 2022, all the accused were released, and the criminal case was closed. Now Simonenko was arrested. A year later, the slanderers filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of causing material damage in the amount of 2.2 billion rubles and moral damage in the amount of 20 million rubles.

During the investigation, it turned out that Simonenko was a client of the reshalschikov group, which, in addition to Kachurov's father and son, included Vasily Pashkevich, General director of the Integrated Legal Protection Company, Alexey Nesnov, an investigator of the Investigative Committee, and Alexander Kireev, an inspector of the Personnel Department of the Investigative Committee.

From each of the founders of Merlion, the OPS demanded five billion rubles each for stopping the illegal prosecution, but the attackers allegedly aimed to gain financial control over Merlion and raider the seizure of its main asset — the online retailer Citilink.

In November 2023, new arrests were made in this case. Among the defendants were several more employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB.

Successful Manager

Merlion Group is a Russian wide-profile distributor of computer, digital and home appliances, hardware and software, office supplies and office furniture. The company employs about 12 thousand people.

Vyacheslav Simonenko, according to TAdviser, began his career in the structure, which after a series of mergers became known as Merlion Group, in 1997, after graduating from MIPT.

In 2007, he was appointed CEO of Merlion and headed the company for six years-until March 2013. On March 6, 2013, Merlion stated in connection with personnel changes that the company's shareholders "highly value the results of work" of Vyacheslav Simonenko.

Simonenko himself later said: "When I was successful as a manager in a large company, I had a desire to try myself as an independent entrepreneur."

In 2015, a successful manager created the distribution company Alager.

 

[Friend]

The story of the illegal prosecution of co-owners and top managers of the IT distributor Merlion continues. In Moscow, the trial of the former personnel officer of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Kireev, accused of participating in the falsification of this case and extortion of 15 billion rubles for its termination, has begun.

Former HR officer of the ICR appeared in court

In the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow, the trial of the former deputy head of the eighth department (official checks) of the personnel department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) Alexander Kireev, accused of participating in major fraud, falsification of evidence, bribery and participation in an organized criminal community (OCG), as Kommersant found out.

According to the investigation, the defendant participated in the falsification of the case of the co-owners of the IT distributor Merlion and extortion of 15 billion rubles from them for the termination of criminal prosecution.

There is also a second defendant - Denis Nikolaev, who allegedly was a link between the participants in the case.

Kireev was charged with another charge - participation in the extortion of four billion rubles from entrepreneur Konstantin Ponomarev for parole and failure to initiate new cases against him at the suit of PJSC Rosseti Kuban.

The defendants pleaded not guilty. Kireev's lawyer Andrei Smitskoy said that his client applied for participation in the special military operation, but he was refused, since there is an article in the case on the organization of a criminal community (Article 210 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

During

the investigation of the case of illegal criminal prosecution of Merlion owners and extortion of bribes, it turned out that the former general director of the distributor Vyacheslav Simonenko was a client of a group of "fixers", which included employees of the Investigative Committee and the FSB. The goal of the attackers was allegedly to gain financial control over Merlion and raider seizure of its main asset, the online retailer Citilink.

In April 2024, the court sentenced Symonenko to 22 years in a maximum security colony. The investigation found that the accused organized the illegal prosecution of co-owners and top managers of Merlion Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov, as well as the head of the company's security service and former vice president of Euroset for security Boris Levin on charges of attempted murder of Simonenko in 2015, when the entrepreneur's house was pelted with Molotov cocktails.

Kireev is accused of "together with unidentified persons" organizing an inspection against officials of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region, who refused to initiate a criminal case at the request of Simonenko. Kireev, according to the investigation, managed to achieve the cancellation of the "refusal" decision and the transfer of the materials of the check to the investigator of the ICR Alexei Nesnov, who "illegally initiated a criminal case" against the co-owners of Merlion and achieved their detention. They were asked for 15 billion rubles for the termination of the case.

Kireev's lawyer said that his client only conducted an inspection and did not take part in extorting money from the co-owners of Merlion, this was done by investigator Nesnov and his accomplices.

Merlion is a profitable asset

As of March 2024, the Merlion group had about 12 thousand employees. The company was founded in 1992 and focuses on distribution, which is represented by three divisions: wide-profile distribution, project IT distribution, and private labels. The company's portfolio includes over 3.8 thousand brands, including Russian and more than 10 private brands. The Merlion partner network includes thousands of companies in all regions of Russia and the CIS countries. Merlion is developing a number of projects and subsidiaries in other areas: retail and e-commerce, IT services, production.

However, its revenue for 2023 amounted to 122.6 billion rubles against 192.4 billion rubles a year earlier (a drop of 36%) and 274 billion rubles in 2021.

At the end of 2023, Citilink's revenue amounted to 138 billion rubles, and net profit amounted to 138 billion rubles, and net profit amounted to 1.6 billion rubles, that is, the latter collapsed by half, and the former by 3%. Against this background, in May 2024, the company began to reduce staff and optimize its structure.