On February 17, the Supreme Court of Belarus will begin a trial in a criminal case of corruption against former top managers of Belgazprombank. Such a decision was made by the instance on Thursday, February 4, during a preliminary court hearing on this criminal case, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.
“To appoint a collegial trial in an open court session in the premises of the Moskovsky district court of Minsk at 11:00 (the same as Moscow time) on February 17, 2021,” said Igor Lyubovitsky, judge of the Supreme Court.
On July 24, 2020, Viktor Babariko, chairman of the bank’s board, was charged with taking a bribe as part of an organized group. The investigation believes that, being the head of Belgazprombank, he received bribes from businessmen in the amount of 28 million Belarusian rubles (more than 833 million Russian rubles) and distributed this amount among employees.
In addition, Babariko is accused of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering.
According to the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, about 30 people were detained in the Belgazprombank case.
On June 11, the State Control Committee (KGC) of Belarus, after a search in Belgazprombank, opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 243 (“Evasion of taxes on an especially large scale”) and Part 2 of Art. 235 (“Legalization of proceeds from crime on an especially large scale”).
On June 18, Babariko was detained. The National Bank of Belarus introduced a temporary administration for the management of Belgazprombank, headed by the ex-head of the National Bank Nadezhda Ermakova.