MOSCOW, January 17 (RAPSI) – Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Regional Court seeking to forfeit property allegedly purchased by ex-head of the Moscow Region’s Serpukhov District Alexander Shestun charged with abuse of office for illegal income, according to a statement released on the website of Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office.
Shestun’s assets are preliminary estimated at 10 billion rubles ($150 million), and this property status does not correspond to his income, Kurennoy said. Shestun is the owner of 676 real estate items in the Moscow Region’s Serpukhov district, 2 recreation facilities and 22 cars, prosecutors state.
The former official has registered his property in the name of his relatives or trustees to evade declaration and suppression of his actual material position. Some property items have been sold, and the funds received have been converted to his own use or the use of his cronies, the statement reads.
According to case papers, between 2008 and 2014, the Serpukhov District administration headed by Shestun illegally transferred four land plots in a local village to the company Center. Damage caused by these actions was estimated at 62 million rubles (about $925,000), investigators claim. Shestun was put in detention.
The former official pleads not guilty. He could face up 10 years in prison if convicted.