There was a video of the detention of the governor of the Penza region, Ivan Belozertsev, who became a defendant in a criminal case on bribes. On the recording, Belozertsev was taken out of the regional government building.
According to the REN TV channel, Belozertsev left the workplace where the searches were taking place, accompanied by investigators and security officials, he is being transported to Moscow, where he will be charged.
Deputy chief of staff – head of the press service of the head of the region Dina Cheremushkina said that after the arrest of Belozertsev, the government of the Penza region is working as usual.
According to the investigation, from January to September 2020, Belozertsev received bribes from businessman Boris Shpigel, his wife and director of Pharmacy OJSC Anton Koloskov through intermediaries in the form of money and other valuables in the amount exceeding 31 million rubles.
The UK said that bribes were transferred for providing benefits when concluding government contracts. The investigation will petition for the arrest of the defendants, said the official representative of the TFR Svetlana Petrenko.
According to REN TV, Belozertsev could provide support to his sons’ business using his powers; they were also searched.
During his father’s several years in power, the sons of the governor acquired a number of apartments, parking in the Triumph residential complex and land plots, and both own land and the building of a state dental clinic in a share with the director of the Penza Region Development Corporation Dmitry Polukarov.
Earlier, on March 19, investigators of the Trans-Baikal Territory opened two criminal cases on the facts of abuse of office when concluding government contracts worth more than 2 billion rubles.