MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) – Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin filed an official request to bring charges against Moscow Commercial Court Judge Irina Baranova on suspicion of aiding raiders, Kommersant newspaper writes on Tuesday.

Bastrykin has forwarded the motion to the Supreme Qualification Board of Judges.

Baranova’s possible involvement in a raiding attempt was revealed during the investigation into a case of a hostile takeover of a building in central Moscow.

According to investigators, the judge helped the building’s former owners, businessmen Mikhail Chernov and Mikhail Balakirev, get back their property. It is believed that Baranova convinced Chernov to bribe the judge in the case, Yulia Bespalova. 
In September 2013, Chernov and Balakirev were declared guilty of fraud and of attempting to launder property and received nine and seven years in prison, respectively. They contested the verdict, Kommersant writes.

The newspaper learned in the Moscow Commercial Court that Baranova is still on its roster but has not heard any cases recently.

If the Supreme Qualification Board of Judges approves Bastrykin’s proposal, Judge Baranova will be charged under Article 33 and Article 291 (soliciting a bribe) and Article 159 (large-scale fraud), Kommersant writes.