Criminal cases in the information technology market of Russia

2024: In the Rostov region, an engineer of the military-industrial complex enterprise received 3 years in prison for hacking a computer

The Rostov Regional Court in June 2024 upheld the verdict of Valery Shaburov, a former engineer of the military-industrial complex (MIC) enterprise, who was sentenced to 3 years in prison for unlawful impact on the critical information infrastructure of Russia. According to the FSB Department for the Rostov Region, Shaburov turned off the means of protecting computer information at his enterprise, planning to copy and change the data on the production process. Read more here.

2023

Bribe case: Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin detained

On July 13, 2023, it became known about the detention of the Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Maxim Parshin as part of a criminal case on receiving a bribe on an especially large scale. Read more here.

Bribe case: BFT head Alexander Monosov detained

On July 13, 2023, the Basmanny Court of Moscow registered a case on the election of a preventive measure against Alexander Monosov in the form of detention. He is suspected of giving a bribe on an especially large scale over 1 million rubles. According to a TAdviser source familiar with Monosov, he was detained in the same case as Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin, who is suspected of taking a bribe. Read more here.

Arrest of the former deputy administrator of Federal State Budgetary Institution IAC sudebnogo departamenta Roman Kalina

On July 17, 2023, it became known about the arrest of the former deputy head of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Information and Analytical Center for Support of the state automated system" Justice "of the Judicial Department" (Federal State Budgetary Institution "IAC of the Judicial Department") Roman Kalina. This was reported by the newspaper Kommersant. We are talking about the theft of more than 40 million rubles. when supplying software for the department through Wintegra Security in 2014. Together with Roman Kalina, the ex-general director and co-owner of Vintegra Security Taras Ponomarev also appears in the case. Read more here.

2022

How to work with state customers in IT and not go to jail?

The work of an IT company on government contracts has quite obvious advantages for the latter. However, not all entrepreneurs think about the risks that budget work entails. The most serious risk in such cases is criminal prosecution. Lawyer Alexei Serdyuk tells about what this risk is associated with and how to reduce it in an article prepared specifically for TAdviser . Read the article.

Prisoners in one picture, February 2022

Position of the profile association and the Ministry of Digital Development

The development of measures to support industry representatives began at the end of 2020. Action Plan ("Roadmap") "Creating additional conditions for the development of the information technology industry" ^[1] the ^[2] was approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on September 9, 2021.

This winter, we worked on the implementation of the 11th and 12th support measures regarding the IT Ombudsman institution, the profile WG on reducing pressure on the IT-Business and approaches to creating a trusted expert environment. We have proposed several options for how this can be done. I think that it is more correct to wait until the state chooses the most comfortable and effective option for it, "Nikolai Komlev, director of the APKIT association and chairman of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry Council for the Development of the Digital Economy, told TAdviser.

The 11th support measure involves the creation of an IT Ombudsman for the protection of the rights of IT companies in order to identify systemic problems in the IT sector, as well as work on complaints and appeals from individual entrepreneurs.

The 12th provides for the creation of a working group on the interaction of IT entrepreneurship with state authorities under the presidium of the Government Commission on Digital Development, the use of information technologies to improve the quality of life and business conditions with the participation of representatives of interested federal executive bodies and organizations, as well as specialized IT associations in order to form an expert trusted environment in the Russian Federation in the field of information technologies.

According to a source in Ministry of Digital Development, so far a working group on the interaction of representatives of the IT industry with government agencies has not been created.

The Ministry of Digital Development does not comment on the topic of protecting the IT-Business from criminal prosecutions.

Current criminal cases

(fresh) Arrest of former St. Petersburg Chief information officer Ivan Gromov. The case of fraud in the Committee for Informatization and Communications of St. Petersburg

The Kuibyshevsky District Court of St. Petersburg issued a decision on the election of a preventive measure in the form of detention until February 6, 2022 against Ivan Gromov and his brother Pavel Gromov, accused of committing crimes under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale). Against the background of the criminal case, searches were conducted by a number of former colleagues Ivan Gromov and another former Chief information officer of St. Petersburg Denis Chamara. Read more here.

(fresh) Arrest of the head of Group-IB on suspicion of treason

On September 28, 2021, searches were carried out at the Group-IB office in Moscow. The founder and CEO of the company, Ilya Sachkov, was detained and subsequently arrested for 2 months by decision of the Lefortovo District Court. In November, the court extended the detention period for another 2 months. Sachkov is suspected of committing a crime under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code (high treason). The maximum punishment under this article is 20 years in prison. Read more here.

(fresh) The case of fraud in the informatization of Moscow. Under arrest, the managers of "I-Teco" and the summation of the DIT of Moscow

The Basmanny District Court of Moscow, at the request of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, arrested until May 16 the director of the I-Tec o department Igor Kolpakov, the head of the department for supporting projects of mobile services of the GKU of the city of Moscow "Information City" Oleg Filimonov and businessman Andrei Shmitko. All of them are accused of fraud on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the Kommersant newspaper reported on March 19, 2021. The essence of the scam was not disclosed by the investigation.

The Moscow Department of Information Technologies (DIT of Moscow) and the Information City GKU subordinate to it are long-time clients of I-Teco. The company in the interests of the Moscow government is engaged in the development of a comprehensive information system "State services in the field of education in electronic form," with the help of which services for entering educational institutions work, providing free meals to preferential categories of children, and providing paid meals.

(fresh) Case related to the USRN creation project. Two co-owners of TaskDat Rus arrested

In May 2021, the Basmanny Court arrested Anton Evgeniev and Sergei Kuznetsov, key co-owners of TaskDat Rus, in a criminal case related to the project as part of the creation of the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRN). Read more here.

(fresh) Case on procurement of non-working software for FCS. Charges brought against former FCS Chief information officer released on parole

In April 2021, it became known that the former Chief information officer of the FCS Alexei Shashaev, who already has a criminal record, will be try again. He is accused of abuse of office. In June 2013, he, holding the position of head of the Main Directorate of Information Technologies of the FCS, approved the acceptance certificate of inoperable software, which was bought for more than 440 million rubles. Throughout 2021, court hearings were postponed for one reason or another. Read more here.

(fresh) The case on the purchase of non-working cameras of photo and video recording within the framework of the national project "Safe and High-Quality Roads"

In December 2021, the Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Kirov Region announced the completion of the investigation of the criminal case initiated against the former Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Kirov Region Yuri Palyukh and the ex-director of the Center for Strategic Development of Information Resources and Management Systems Dmitry Popovenko. They are accused of committing a crime under paragraph "c" of Part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of office with causing serious consequences). Read more here.

The case of corruption in the Pension Fund. Under arrest, IT leaders of the FIU

The largest criminal case in terms of the number of arrested persons over the past two years has been the case of corruption in the Pension Fund, where a whole group of officials is suspected of taking bribes. First, in July 2019, TAdviser found out that the deputy chairman of the FIU Alexei Ivanov and the director of the department for work with state structures "Technoserv" Alexei Kopeikin were detained. Later, in connection with this criminal case, key heads of the IT departments of the FIU were also arrested and the ex-owner of Technoserv and former shareholder of Promsvyazbank Alexei Ananyev, who left Russia, were put on the wanted list.

According to investigators, officials received money from structures controlled by Ananyev and participating in multibillion-dollar tenders held by the FIU.

On the part of the FIU, in particular, in addition to Ivanov, the following were arrested:

• ex-head of the department for organizing the provision of public services of the PFR Evgeny Turchak,
• former head of the IT department of the PFR Dmitry Kuznetsov,
• former head of the information security department of the FIU Evgeny Nikitin,
• ex-head of the infrastructure management department of the automated information system of the FIU Ruben Enfiadzhyan,
• Head of the Interregional Information Center of the PFRKonstantin Yankin,
• Head of the Procurement Department at the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) Alexander Rudnev.

It seems that the positions of the accused in this criminal case are divided. So, for example, Alexei Ivanov pleaded guilty shortly after his arrest in 2019. Konstantin Yankin also admits guilt. And the lawyer of the co-founder and ex-co-owner of Technoserv Alexei Ananyev in October 2020 stated that he had not seen a single evidence of the involvement of his client in the initiated criminal case.

In September 2021, Alexei Ivanov and Alexei Kopeikin, who collaborated with the investigation, were sentenced to 4 years in a maximum security penal colony. The rest of the participants are waiting for the start of the hearings on the merits in the pre-trial detention center.

Read more here.

Abuse of power case in RVC. Alexander Povalko came out of house arrest

On June 3, 2020, it became known about searches in the office of the Russian Venture Company (RVC) and in the house of its general director Alexander Povalko. They were conducted by employees of the economic security service of the FSB and the police in the framework of a criminal case initiated on the fact of abuse of authority (part 2 of article 201 of the Criminal Code). And on June 6, information appeared that Povalko was sent under house arrest until July 21.

Alexander Povalko was removed from the post of general director of RVC in September 2020. And in August 2021, the case was brought to court. On January 12, 2022, the Tagansky Court of Moscow softened the measure of restraint for the former head of the Russian Venture Company (RVC) Alexander Povalko and released him from house arrest, and a ban on certain actions was chosen as a preventive measure. This, with reference to sources, reported RBC.

Read more here.

The case of the attempted murder of the ex-CEO of Merlion. Merlion shareholders released

In October 2020, TAdviser found out that three co-owners of Merlion were detained: Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev and Vladislav Mangutov, as well as top manager of the company Boris Levin on suspicion of organizing an attempted murder of former Merlion CEO Vyacheslav Simonenko.

According to Simonenko, the situation with the criminal case was preceded by a conflict with the co-owners of Merlion over finances. The defendants in the case do not admit guilt, and their lawyers claim that they have evidence of the innocence of their clients.

Since the arrest, all four arrested have been in jail for the duration of the investigation. But after complaints to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, they instructed another investigative unit to conduct the case, after which in the spring of 2021 three shareholders were released from the pre-trial detention center under house arrest, and in September all preventive measures were removed from them. Boris Levin's preventive measure was softened, from August 2021 he is under house arrest.

Read more here.

The case of abuse of authority in the Russian Post. Post CIO released from house arrest

In July 2020, TAdviser learned about the detention of Sergei Emelchenkov, deputy general director for IT at Russian Post. According to the investigation, Emelchenkov signed an additional agreement to the agreement, without coordinating it with the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, which is why improper execution of the contract with the Servionica company caused damage to the state. Emelchenkov is charged with abuse of office. He was sent under house arrest. In October 2021, the Moscow City Court replaced his house arrest with a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior. Read more here.

The case of fraud in the supply of computers to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Vsevolod Opanasenko was allowed to leave home and work

In March 2019, the Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested the founder of T-Platforms Vsevolod Opanasenko. According to the state prosecution, the company transferred equipment to the Ministry of Internal Affairs that does not meet the technical requirements of the customer. At first, the article presented by Opanasenko sounded like incitement to abuse of authority, but was subsequently replaced by Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale). The accused in the case with him is Alexander Alexandrov, head of the communications department of the Department of Information Technologies of Communications and Information Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

At first, both defendants were in jail, but in March 2020 they were transferred to house arrest. On January 25, 2022, the court canceled the measure of restraint in the form of house arrest to Vsevolod Opanasenko, replacing it with a ban on certain actions.

Read more here.

The case of the cartel in the supply of equipment to the Central Election Commission. The President of the NCC came out of house arrest

In July 2020, the president NCC Alexander Kalinin was detained under house arrest as part of a criminal case on cartel conspiracy during deliveries to. We Central Electoral Commission are talking about a conspiracy between the auction participants for the supply State automated system "Elections" of system units for 2016. FAS earlier found out that the behavior of the bidders allowed the winner of the auction - - "Business Computer Groups" to conclude a state contract without reducing the price offered by him by 15% and estimated the damage caused at 97.9 million. rubles

Two more persons involved in this case are the vice-president of Aquarius Vladimir Piskunov and the co-owner of Business Computers Group Dmitry Kuvshinnikov. He chose a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions.

In June 2021, Alexander Kalinin was released from house arrest, under the ban of certain actions.

Read more here.

The case of fraud in the creation of GIS TEK. Deputy Minister of Energy and Vice-Presidents of Lanita have been in jail for more than a year

In September 2020, the Investigative Committee (IC) reported that the Deputy Minister of power of the Russian Federation Anatoly Tikhonov was charged in the framework of a criminal case. The case was initiated on the fact of embezzlement of budget funds on an especially large scale allocated by the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Russian Energy Agency" ( REA) of the Ministry of Energy to create an information system.

Other defendants in this criminal case are Anatoly Tikhonov's adviser Roman Ryzhkov and Lanit vice-presidents Vladimir Makarov and Viktor Serebryakov. All of them and Tikhonov have been in jail since their arrest. Throughout 2021, appeals to change the preventive measure were rejected, and the detention in the pre-trial detention center was extended.

Read more here.

The case of embezzlement in the informatization of health care. The head of "Smart Delta Systems" of the pre-trial detention center was replaced by house arrest

In August 2020, the Basmanny Court of Moscow arrested Alexei Chernousov. The owner and CEO of Smart Delta Systems, a company engaged in the development of medical IT systems, is suspected of complicity in embezzlement in the implementation of the informatization program in the regional health care system (part 5 of article 33 and part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He was in jail for more than six months, and in February 2021 he was released under house arrest. Throughout 2021, no court hearings were held in his case. Read more here.

2021

There are fewer new criminal cases against well-known representatives of the IT industry, but the total number of IT specialists under investigation is growing

In 2021, 6 high-profile criminal cases were initiated in Russia against 10 prominent representatives of the IT industry. Moreover, 8 of the accused were placed in jail, one under house arrest and another under recognizance not to leave. Among the accused were the founder and general director of Group-IBILYA Sachkov, ex-head of the city committee for informatization and communications of St. Petersburg Ivan Gromov, head of the information technology department of [1] Rosreestr Alexander Bibikov, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Kirov region Yuri Palyukh.

Let's compare with 2020. Then 8 high-profile criminal cases were initiated against 24 prominent IT specialists. Of these, 16 were imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center, 4 were placed under house arrest, a recognizance not to leave was taken from 2, a preventive measure was applied to another 2 in the form of a ban on certain types of activities. Cases, for example, were initiated against the president of NKKAlexander Kalinin, vice president of Aquarius Vladimir Piskunov, co-owner of Business Computers Group Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, deputy general director of Russian Post for IT Sergei Emelchenkov, [2] general director RVKAleksandr Povalko, ex-deputy minister of energy Anatoly Tikhonov, owners of the country's largest distributor Merlion Alexei Abramov, Vyacheslav Mangutov and oleg Karchev.

In 2021, 5 representatives of the IT industry were released from arrest. Among them are Merlion owners Alexei Abramov, Vyacheslav Mangutov and Oleg Karchev, Deputy General Director of Russian Post for IT Sergei Emelchenkov and NCC President Alexander Kalinin. The general director of Smart Delta Systems, accused Alexey Chernousov of complicity in embezzlement in the implementation of the informatization program of the health care Tula region (part 5 of article 33 and part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), in February 2021, a preventive measure was softened - he went under house arrest from the pre-trial detention center. Already in January 2022, RVC Director General Alexander Povalko and founder were released from house arrest. T-Platforms Vsevolod Opanasenko

14 high-profile criminal cases opened against representatives of the IT industry are under constant control in the TAdviser edition

Note that investigations into the cases of representatives of the IT industry are very slow. On average, more than two years pass from initiating a criminal case to considering it on the merits. For example, the investigation into the case of fraud in the informatization of the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) was launched in 2019, and only in the spring of 2022 will the study of the case materials and hearings on the merits begin. At the same time, six defendants in this case have been in jail since 2020 (more). In May 2017, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against the chairman of the Tula Region Committee on Informatization and Communications Artur Contrabayev on abuse of office in the implementation of the "Program for the Modernization of Health Care of the Tula Region for 2011-2013." Hearings on the merits in the Central District Court of Tula began only in May 2021.

It's not uncommon for things to come to a standstill or fall apart. For example, at the end of 2019, ex-Deputy Minister of Communications Aleksei Soldatov was accused of fraud (Art. 159, Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) - "in embezzlement by deception of the right to IP addresses," and he was sent under house arrest. And already in September 2020 he was released from arrest on recognizance not to leave and until 2022 there were no movements in his case. Another example is the case against the owners and top manager of one of the largest Russian IT distributors Merlion, where within a year the preventive measures were removed from the three owners, and another accused Boris Levin was transferred from the pre-trial detention center to house arrest. Another significant case: the general director and co-founder of the Russian computer equipment manufacturer Depo Computers Alexei Irisov was placed under house arrest in the fall of 2018, and in May 2020 the Ministry of Internal Affairs withdrew the case from the Prosecutor General's Office.

Long investigations and lengthy preliminary hearings lead to an increase in the number of IT industry representatives in jail or under house arrest. TAdviser constantly monitors 14 current cases (see below in the infographic). Even with acquittals or in the case of "collapsed" cases, people find themselves torn out of the dynamically developing IT market for several years. Most often they lose their jobs, business, reputation. Few of those accused of criminal offenses manage to restore their social status and income levels.

Increase in the number of court cases in the IT sphere of Russia by 20%

In 2021, more than 623 thousand acts issued by courts in civil, administrative and criminal cases in the field of IT were registered in Russia. This is 20% more than a year earlier, according to data from RTM Group, which specializes in legal issues of information security. The report was released at the end of December 2021.

As Kommersant writes with reference to this study, most of the proceedings are related to the misuse of intellectual property objects, the recovery of compensation for illegal use of software, as well as the recognition of information disseminated on the network as prohibited.

The number of court cases in the IT sphere of Russia increased by 20%

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has led to an active penetration of technology into all spheres of life, and therefore the number of incidents is growing, said Sergey Golovanov, chief expert at Kaspersky Lab. In his opinion, the trend is likely to continue. For companies, the issues of information leaks are especially acute, because in addition to direct damage, they also carry serious reputational risks, Golovanov added.

CROC lawyer Yevgeny Arkhipov notes that the most controversial issues in the work of the BN company remain compliance with the license conditions for software.

The software distributor is obliged to associate customers with the terms of use of the software, which are reported by vendors. At the same time, as a rule, the distributor works at the junction of foreign and domestic law: a foreign developer provides licenses under foreign law, and the task of the distributor is to sell them to domestic customers within the framework of Russian, the expert explained.

Alexander Zhuravlev, managing partner of the EBR law firm, believes that the number of cases in the IT sector is growing even faster. He estimates growth at 70%. He noted an increase in cases in the use of pirated software by organizations, cryptocurrency transactions, hacker attacks on competitors' enterprises, as well as disputes about theft of accounts and items in video games.^[3]

The number of criminal cases due to attacks on government agencies and banks in Russia has tripled

In 2021, 70 criminal cases were opened in Russia due to cyber attacks and other unlawful impact on critical information infrastructure (CII - IT systems of government agencies, banks, transport, fuel and nuclear industry, power, etc.) against 22 a year earlier. This is evidenced by the data of the InfoWatch study conducted using statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and data from the state automated system "Justice." Read more here.

IT Ombudsman will appear in Russia, and jury courts will consider economic cases in the IT sector

In mid-September 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation announced the approval of a roadmap for creating additional conditions for the development of the Russian information technology industry. In accordance with the document, an IT ombudsman will appear in Russia, and jury courts will consider economic cases in the field of information technology.

The so-called second package of IT industry support measures provides for the creation of an IT Ombudsman for the protection of companies' rights in order to identify systemic problems in the IT sector, as well as work on complaints and appeals from individual entrepreneurs. This initiative is being implemented in order to increase the level of satisfaction of IT companies with the conditions of doing business in the Russian Federation, as well as to reduce the outflow of such organizations from the country.

IT Ombudsman will appear in the Russian Federation, and jury courts will consider economic cases in the field of IT

It is planned to create an IT Ombudsman for the protection of the rights of IT companies by December 2021. Performance of this task is entrusted to the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economic Development.

The Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (APKIT) previously proposed to create an IT Ombudsman Institute. They believe that IT entrepreneurs need protection from excessive persecution.

The document also proposes:

• give jurors the right to consider IT economic cases;
• clarify the procedure for applying preventive measures "prohibition of certain actions" and "detention" when considering criminal cases against IT entrepreneurs;
• exempt IT entrepreneurs from criminal liability in the event of payment of a fine and damage.

Until February 2022, Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the IT industry associations must submit proposals for amending the legislation. According to the Government of the Russian Federation, these measures will lead to an increase in the level of satisfaction of IT companies with the conditions of doing business in the Russian Federation and a reduction in their outflow from Russian jurisdiction.^[4]

Jurors in Russia will be allowed to criminal cases in the field of IT

On August 19, 2021, it became known that jurors would be involved in the consideration of economic criminal cases in the field of information technology. This is stated in the action plan of the state program "Creating additional conditions for the development of the information technology industry," which was approved by the government commission on digital development.

As Kommersant writes with reference to this document, its creators expect through this initiative to increase the satisfaction of IT market participants with the conditions for doing business in the Russian Federation and reduce the outflow of developers from the jurisdiction.

In Russia, jury trials are rarely convened. Sometimes they are handed criminal cases for serious and especially serious crimes, for which life imprisonment is provided. We are talking about murder, kidnapping, banditry, sale or smuggling of drugs and other criminal articles. The jurors never considered economic cases.

Jurors in the Russian Federation will begin to admit to criminal cases in the field of IT

Market participants are supported by changes that give jurors the right to consider IT economic cases. Logically, the jury must follow common sense, which means being loyal to business, says Valentin Makarov, president of Russoft.

This is a positive trend for the industry - in recent years, active pursuit of the IT sphere has become more frequent, "added Stanislav Iodkovsky, CEO of IVA Technologies.

Aleksey Malkov, deputy general director of EOS Active LLC, in turn, proposed forming a jury of members of specialized unions, organizations and associations. However, the managing partner of Rustam Kurmaev and Partners Rustam Kurmaev believes that additional requirements for the jury should not be presented, since they are already quite difficult to select.

In addition, the new conditions will change the meaning of the jury trial and the idea that people with ordinary legal consciousness administer justice and pass a verdict, "he explained.[5]

Position Ministry of Digital Development in April 2021: it is necessary to create a separate court for IT companies

In mid-April 2021, Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation proposed creating a separate court for IT companies. The relevant court may appear in three years.

We all understand that our public sector is a very large customer: state-owned companies, government agencies. We know that there are criminal cases against all large IT companies, almost everyone. We understand that the investigation of these cases is always difficult, because a special examination, special skills are required, - said the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev at a meeting of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy (quoted by Interfax). - Therefore, we propose to create a separate court that would investigate economic criminal cases against IT companies, where expertise, competence and so on would be necessary.

Prisoners in one picture, February 2021

The position of the professional community in February 2021: the number of criminal cases in the field of IT and the digital economy will only grow, it is necessary to mitigate pressure

Nikolai Komlev, Director of the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (APKIT), Chairman of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Digital Economy, told TAdviser that APKIT certainly monitors criminal cases filed against the owners and managers of IT companies.

We contact colleagues, relatives, lawyers of the defendant, lawyers of the company that he headed or owned, ask what help is necessary. Whatever they are accused of, these are our comrades and colleagues in the workshop. Our task is to support them, give recommendations, achieve the ability to conduct cases on them without deprivation or restriction of liberty and the opportunity to engage in work. We coordinate any of our activities with the lawyers of the defendants, "Komlev told TAdviser.

He added that as of February 2021, the association monitors the affairs of 11 colleagues. The association, however, chose not to announce this list, citing the fact that this could harm those under investigation and their business.

Unfortunately, the number of checks, detentions, arrests and other types of pressure on the IT-Business does not decrease, says Nikolai Komlev.

That worries us. We admit the possibility that the law was violated, but we believe that in some cases these are civil disputes or administrative, not criminal compositions, - said the director of APKIT in a conversation with TAdviser.

The association outlined this topic in the framework of the preparation of the ANO "Digital Economy," the Ministry of Digital Development of Digital Science and the Government of the Russian Federation of the second package of measures to support the IT industry with a set of proposals, told TAdviser Komlev. In his opinion, with the increase in the number of benefits and subsidies issued, budget money for the development and implementation of IT in the current conditions, the number of criminal cases in the field of IT and the digital economy will only grow. This pressure is becoming a tangible brake on the digitalization of the economy, says Komlev.

And on February 5, we discussed this topic as part of a discussion of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on the development of IT and the digital economy on the topic: "Mitigation of criminal legislation and law enforcement practice affecting the development of IT entrepreneurship and digital transformation of the economy." A dozen and a half proposals were collected to improve the legal and law enforcement environment in terms of mitigating criminal pressure on the IT-Business. These are amendments to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and other laws, the development of expertise, additional discussions within the CCI, the office of Ombudsman Boris Titov and the APKIT association, - says Nikolai Komlev.

According to him, as each of the initiatives is ready, APKIT will send them to the State Duma, the Federation Council, the Government, and relevant departments.

2020

The case of fraud in the supply of computer equipment to the Ministry of Defense. The defendant is the ex-general director of Depot Electronics

According to the base of the courts of Moscow, on October 31, 2018, Alexei Iris was charged with committing a crime under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale). At first he was in a pre-trial detention center, but then the preventive measure was changed to house arrest, and in April 2020 - to ban certain actions. Until February 2022, there were no movements in the case. By all indications, the investigation reached a dead end and the case fell into the number of "abandoned." Read more here.

IT outsourcing services carry the risks of criminal prosecution. Why can they put the contractor's employees?

IT outsourcing services carry the risks of criminal prosecution. Why can they put the contractor's employees?

Notes