Criminal case of ex-Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin on corruption in the distribution of grants

2024

Witness in the criminal case of ex-Deputy Minister Parshin: "The behavior of individual comrades began to raise questions "

On October 28, 2024, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow continued to consider the criminal case of Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov. This time, the third key witness of the prosecution, Ilya Kostunov, was interrogated. He first worked as the director of the department of the grant committee of RFRIT, and since April 2022 he served as deputy general director of RFRIT. At the same time, he was not a member of the grant committee, but participated in meetings as an invited person.

Ilya Kostunov left the RFRIT in March 2023, now he works as deputy head of the organizational and analytical department in the office of the Commissioner for Human Rights. He knows Maxim Parshin personally - "they emphasized to me the exceptional role of Maxim Viktorovich Parshin as a person who determines the fate of the fund," Ilya Kostunov noted. At the same time, the witness practically did not have direct communications with him as part of the competitive selection for grants in 2022. And Ilya Kostunov is familiar with Alexander Monosov only from the materials of the criminal case.

The competition for grants for projects to develop domestic IT solutions, which subsequently "shot" a high-profile criminal case, was announced in April 2022. As the witness recalled in court, the acceptance of applications for this competition in November was suspended. The volume of applications for grants by that time was already "tens of times" higher than the available volumes of support funds.

Ilya Kostunov was interrogated in court as a witness

Already in May, the first applications for grants were formed, ready for submission to the grant committee following the results of the first stage of the competition, said Ilya Kostunov. But the grant committees did not meet. At that time, there was a reorientation of support measures to particularly significant projects (OZP). Actually, this was mentioned by the previous two witnesses who had already been questioned in court.

When it came to holding meetings of grant committees, at first "everything went cheerfully," because RFRIT "experienced public pressure from the community." But then there was some braking, as the witness recalls - on the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Development.

The teamwork of Ministry of Digital Development and RFRIT was precisely aimed at selecting the best projects, and as soon as possible. But not everyone was part of this team, I mean Ministry of Digital Development: at some point, the behavior of individual comrades began to raise questions, "the witness said at the trial.

He explained that, first of all, he means here the Aleks ei Popov, who at that time was a colleague of Maxim Parshin in Ministry of Digital Development (see the blocks below for details of the interrogation of Aleksei Popov in court). Through the Ministry of Digital Development line, the witness during the competitive selection mainly communicated with the Aleksei Popov.

On November 17, according to Ilya Kostunov, projects worth about 4 billion rubles were selected at the grant committee, but since there was no Ministry of Digital Development, no one was allowed to the second stage of the competition without the position of the department that day. And on November 22, Aleksei Popov spoke that the grant committee needed to look at the projects, but it was not about admission to the second stage, and, according to Ilya Kostunov, "everyone understood" that there was no excuse from the Ministry of Digital Development leadership to skip the projects further.

In a special Telegram channel of the grant committee, there were discussions outside the meetings, and, as the witness recalled, at some point Aleksei Popov posted a certain table with projects there. Ilya Kostunov later at a meeting of the grant committee was interested in what kind of table it was and, according to him, Aleksei Popov explained that this was the opinion of various departments of the Ministry of Digital Development. This explanation satisfied the members of the grant committee. At the same time, subsequently there were already several tables, they changed and came from different persons.

In the list of 14 projects (the so-called "Monosov list" - approx. TAdviser) 6 projects had a not particularly high rating. Ilya Kostunov did not receive detailed justifications from the Ministry of Digital Development why certain projects from the list are considered good.

Collectively, according to the witness, 73 projects were allowed before the second stage of the competitive selection. And then went "technical work," which of them is worthy of support. For example, the assistant Aleksei Popov sent Ilya Kostunov a plate, where 31 projects were marked as promising for support. The projects recommended for support were "colored."

On December 15, at the grant committee for the second, final stage of the competition, two projects were supported from the "colored" ones - "Adeptic Plus" and "Test AI," according to the memoirs of Ilya Kostunov. And on December 22, 22 projects were ready for the conclusion of agreements on grant support and then only 6 projects from "colored" were supported. The rest of the "colored" projects were postponed further, but did not reject. And on December 26, "they sat until late in the evening," and then some projects from "non-color" were supported to "form a cash register," but "waited until the last." Some of the "color" projects were postponed to next year, according to Ilya Kostunov.

All meetings of the grant committee were recorded on video. The witness on a number of issues has repeatedly made references to this - that you can turn to the video and check this or that moment.

The next court hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for November 11.

The role of Ilya Massukh in the selection of projects for grants in 2022 - what is known from interrogations and materials in the criminal case of Maxim Parshin

In the course of consideration in the court of a criminal case on the distribution of grants, more and more information appears about the activities of the director, ANO CKIT a member of the supervisory board RFRIT Ilya Massukh in the process of competitive selection of candidate projects for grants in 2022. Earlier, during interrogation in court, Ilya Massukha already mentioned one of the key witnesses - the general director of RFRIT. And Alexander Pavlov on October 21, 2024, as part of the next open meeting in the Khamovnichesky District Court of the city in the Moscow case where another witness, the deputy director of the IT industry development department, was interrogated, Ministry of Digital Development Aleksei Popov some new information related to this was announced.

As Aleksei Popov recalled at the trial, in mid-December 2022, when the competitive selection of projects for the development of IT solutions applying for grants went to the finish line, Ilya Massukh invited members of the RFRIT Supervisory Board to use 5-6 new criteria for evaluating projects. Popov said that he himself first learned about these criteria at a meeting with Maxim Parshin, where he discussed how to make decisions on all projects admitted to the second stage of competitive selection. At that time, there were more than 70 such projects, and collectively they requested funding more than the limit allocated for grants under this competition.

And in order to somehow make decisions on these projects, Ilya Issovich proposed such criteria, - Aleksei Popov told the court.

Ilya Massukh was mentioned a lot during the interrogation of Aleksei Popov in court on October 21

Subsequently, the new criteria were brought to the grant committee, including a table with projects marked with color and a special symbol that fit the criteria of Ilya Massukh was posted in the chat of the grant committee. According to Aleksei Popov, this table was posted on the chat on behalf of Maxim Parshin. The witness could not remember whether all 14 projects from the "Monosov list" met the criteria proposed by Ilya Massukh.

In the case, thus, a table of about 70 projects appears, which includes all projects that have reached the second stage of the competitive selection, in which those that meet the new proposed criteria were highlighted in color. According to Aleksei Popov, the table was made by RFRIT together with ANO CKIT. And then the grant committee made a decision on projects in general order.

Recall that from the information voiced at this and other court hearings in the case, it follows that the "Monosov list" was only part of the list of projects declared to the grant committee as a list of "recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development." For more information on this, see the blocks below.

The application of any new criteria in making decisions on projects was not provided for by the tender documentation. They were proposed by Ilya Massukh "simply as an additional recommendation for decision-making" and in the advisory status adopted by the minutes of the meeting of the RFRIT Supervisory Board, the witness said. But such a recommendation "does not contradict anything," the criteria were not binding.

At the same time, the members of the grant committee perceived the criteria proposed by Ilya Massukh ambiguously, some of them seemed controversial, said Aleksei Popov: for example, there were criteria because of which projects on personnel systems could not be supported.

Denis Saushkin, lawyer for Alexander Monosov, pointed out that one of the projects on the Monosov list was the HRLink project of Innovations in Human Resources Management. Thus, the criteria proposed by Ilya Massukh excluded the possibility of receiving a grant from one of the companies on this list, the lawyer concluded.

Not all companies met the criteria proposed by Ilya Massukh, and, according to Aleksei Popov, Parshin suggested that ANO CKIT prepare comments on all projects with a justification for why one or another project can be supported and added to the second stage of the competition. The prepared comments were advisory, optional.

At the request of the state prosecutor, at a meeting on October 21, the case materials were still examined - the protocol for inspecting the mobile phone and computers of the Aleksei Popov seized during the search. The questions of the state prosecutor to Popov during interrogation in court on these materials were associated, among other things, with his correspondence with Maxim Parshin and Ilya Massukh. So, for example, in one of Popov's outgoing messages to Parshin dated December 15, 2022, it is indicated that Ilya Massukh voiced recommendations for the grant committee at the meeting when prioritizing projects, and Popov asked Parshin to clarify with Massukh whether to voice recommendations "now at the meeting," noting that "there on two points almost all draft lists two fly out."

And on December 22, 2022, Popov received a message from Massukh with the following content: "This is what prevented them from adjusting this incomprehensible independent examination to 'painted'." As the state prosecutor read out at the meeting, in a message to Massukh on the same day, Popov wrote: "Yeah, and formally raise it in the ranking."

On the same day, Aleksei Popov received a message from Ilya Massukh with the text: "Do not drag the Parshin's pluses - they will blow them apart," the state prosecutor read out, putting the stress in the word "drag" on the letter "I."

And on December 24 (Saturday), a message came from Massuch: "I look, in general, our recommendations are ignored." On the same day, Popov wrote messages to Parshin: "We can not wait for the results of the examination physically," "We need to make decisions on all projects that are ready, otherwise we will not make a cash register." And Massukhu Popov sent the same message: "We need to make decisions on all projects that are ready, otherwise we will not make a cash register." Parshin replied: "Reschedule for Monday." And on the heels of that he added: "Partly supportive now and the rest on Mon at 7pm."

As Aleksei Popov explained at the trial regarding the correspondence of December 24, due to the pressing deadlines for competitive selection, the meeting of the grant committee was then held on a day off.

Massukh also joined this grant committee, and he was unhappy that the projects recommended taking into account his recommendations were not supported on the grant committee, Aleksei Popov told the court.

And on Monday, the consideration of part of the projects was postponed, because not all projects from the "priority list" managed to pass the examination, the witness added.

The interrogation of Aleksei Popov on October 21 was completed, but Maxim Parshin's lawyer believes that it will still be necessary to summon this witness to court when the turn comes to present evidence from the defense in court. In addition to Aleksei Popov, the court is expected to interrogate five more witnesses of the prosecution. The next court hearing is scheduled for October 28.

In a criminal case of corruption in the distribution of grants, a key witness was interrogated - an official of the Ministry of Digital Development

On October 21, 2024, the Khamovnichesky District Court of the city Moscow continued to consider the criminal case Maxim Parshin and. Alexandra Monosova As the correspondent reports from TAdviser the courthouse, at the meeting they interrogated the second key witness of the prosecution - ex-colleague Maxim Parshin, Aleksei Popov who works as deputy director of the industry development department. IT Ministry of Digital Development

During the events considered in the criminal case, Popov held the same position as now, and, among other things, coordinated work on grant support measures, was a member of the grant committee. And Maxim Parshin oversaw the work of the IT industry development department in the Ministry of Digital Development.

Aleksei Popov recalled that in 2022 two competitions were announced - for grants for projects to develop IT solutions for development companies and for implementation projects for customers. A competition for grants for development projects was announced in April. At the same time, in May, state support measures at the initiative of the government were reoriented to support particularly significant projects (OZP), first of all, and had to wait until the list of OZPs was formed. It was held as part of the second competition - for grants for implementation projects, where it was about major support, in the amount of over a billion rubles.

The competition for grants for the development of IT solutions was held in two stages. According to the results of the first stage, for which the applicant companies applied for a competition at the RFRIT with a minimum set of documents, and after passing the examination of the fund, the grant committee made decisions on the transfer of projects to the second stage, where a large package of documents was already being prepared. At the second stage, independent experts were also included in the work, without the assessment of which final decisions on the approval of the project or rejection and refusal of the grant could not be made. Applications at the meetings of the grant committee were considered "in portions," decisions "for" or "against" were taken on each project by a majority of votes. At the same time, according to the results of the examination of the fund at the first stage, each project was assigned a certain number of points for which the ranking was compiled. And in accordance with this ranking, the applications were on the agenda of the grant committee and unfolded, the witness explained.

According to Aleksei Popov, the list of projects that moved to the second stage of competitive selection included, among other things, projects "recommended Ministry of Digital Development Russia." Aleksei Popov said that at the end of November 2022 he first learned about the presence of "recommended projects." This happened at one of the operational meetings, where, among other things, Maxim Parshin, Director of the IT Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Digital Development Dmitry Nikitin and his deputies, RFRIT General Director Alexander Pavlov were present. The latter at that meeting announced information about the availability of a list of projects "recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development" with the message that they should be "supported at the second stage," the witness says.

As Popov was able to recall, there were about 30 such projects in the end (later, a demonstration of the list from lawyer Saushkin's laptop showed that there were 34 such projects in particular). Of these, 14 companies are from Alexander Monosov. At the request of Maxim Parshin, Aleksei Popov posted a list of these 14 projects in the general chat of the grant committee on Telegram, writing that these are projects "recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development."

According to Popov, he then declared his unwillingness to do this, not understanding how good these projects are, and what their rating is according to the results of the first stage. But I received an answer from Parshin that these are projects "recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development," and you can simply post them in a chat.

Later, the rating of these projects became known to Aleksei Popov. He recalls that they were "not the best" by rating.

After posting projects in Telegram chat, the grant committee considered the full list of projects for the second stage. Popov at a meeting of the grant committee announced that 14 projects are "projects recommended Ministry of Digital Development Russia." The witness added that at the same time, projects from the "recommended" list were considered on general terms by members of the grant committee.

The state prosecutor asked Popov why he, not knowing how these projects are good, nevertheless voiced them at a meeting of the grant committee. To which Popov replied that it was directly the instruction of the head - Maxim Parshin. And for clarification from the state prosecutor about the validity of this instruction, Popov said: "Why not, if the deputy minister coordinating this direction says that these projects are good." At the same time, he also clarified that this happened for the first time and was not common practice.

Some of the lawyers' questions to Aleksei Popov were aimed at indicating that those projects from the list of "recommended" that eventually received grants are good and received grants on a general basis. In addition, lawyer Saushkin demonstrated to the court on material docks that in the final list considered by the grant committee, two companies from the "Monosov list" were not even marked as "recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development."

Aleksei Popov at the meeting also reported that any member of the grant committee had the opportunity to propose projects that could be included in the list for the second stage of competitive selection.

In November, at one of the meetings, realizing that not all projects had time to complete the procedures for the first stage for inclusion in the second stage, an agreement was reached that any member of the committee could simply recommend that projects be included in the list of projects of the second stage. Probably, the majority of the committee members took advantage of this. We had a chat created by RFRIT, which was called the "Grant Committee," and there the members of the grant committee wrote a list of projects that recommend transferring to the second stage in order to be considered in the future, "Alexey Popov said at a court session.

From April to November 2022, there were few meetings of the grant committee in connection with the reorientation of support measures to OZP. But when the question settled with them, at the end of 2022 it reached the meetings of the grant committee as part of a competition for grants for projects to develop IT solutions. The witness confirmed one of the moments that were previously voiced in court by the general director of RFRITAlexander Pavlov - that at the initiative of Maxim Parshin, meetings of the grant committee were postponed, which consider projects applying for grants. This happened in the final selection period at the end of 2022.

According to Popov, the main reason for postponing the meetings was that the projects from the "Monosov list" did not have time to submit all the necessary documents on time, and he received instructions that it was necessary to postpone the meetings only from Maxim Parshin.

The witness also said that he had previously seen Alexander Monosov only once. He met him in the office of Maxim Parshin at a meeting in the fall of 2022. They discussed in general the selection of projects and called Popov to tell how this happens.

And in December 2022, according to Popov, Maxim Parshin "let slip" that the "recommended list" contains projects from Monosov. Plus, once Parshin sent a message to Telegram from Monosov with the latter's comments to the work of the fund's expert on one of the applications from his list: Monosov wrote to Parshin that the expert's comments were allegedly incorrect.

At the same time, according to Popov, Parshin never substantiated his interest in projects from the "Monosov list," and he himself did not ask about it. Popov also said at a court session that as a member of the grant committee, he himself voted "against" on a number of projects from the "Monosov list," without reporting this to Parshin, who, in fact, did not ask about it.

At the court session on October 21, the state prosecutor, among other things, read out part of the correspondence between Aleksei Popov and Maxim Parshin and the director of the ANO TsKITIlya Massukh, from which it follows that the latter was actively involved, including at the final stage of the competitive selection. Read more about the content of the correspondence and other details of the interrogation of Aleksei Popov in the next TAdviser publication.

"Let's not have a circus in court." The interrogation of the general director of RFRIT in the criminal case of Maxim Parshin has ended

On October 14, a regular meeting was held in the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow in the criminal case of Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov, at which the interrogation of one of the key witnesses of the prosecution, the general director of RFRITAlexander Pavlov, continued . This time he was asked questions by the defense, the number of which was thinned out: Alexander Monosov said that he refused the services of one of his lawyers, Danila Parshikov, and in the future only lawyer Denis Saushkin will defend him.

The defenders clarified many details related to the competitive selection of applications for grants in 2022, including dates, conditions of tender documentation and responsibility for their violation, details of the stages of the procedure for selecting applications, rules for ranking applications and much more. Alexander Pavlov found it difficult to recall a lot of details about which the defense asked at the meeting: for example, related to the exact timing of the stages of competitive selection, the exact date of the suspension of the RFRIT of accepting applications for grants in November 2022, etc.

The defense at the trial filed a petition for research and presentation of material evidence to the witness from the materials of the criminal case - a flash card, which, according to lawyer Denis Saushkin, contains detailed information from the RFRIT itself about what is associated with applications for the competition, including their number, ranking, etc. This data is important for questioning a witness, the lawyer added.

However, the state prosecutor opposed the satisfaction of this petition, referring to the fact that, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the prosecution first presents the evidence, and after that - the defense. Accordingly, she will be able to present her material evidence for research when her legal turn comes to do so. As a result, Judge Olga Zhelyazkova dismissed this petition of the defense as prematurely declared.

In the photo from left to right - Alexander Monosov and lawyers Denis Saushkin and Darya Shulgina

According to Darya Shulgina, lawyer Maxim Parshin, there is a violation of the right to defense, since it is deprived of the opportunity to specify the issue and present the witness with material evidence, which in any case will be investigated.

In total, according to Alexander Pavlov, 1269 applications were received for competitive selection in 2022. The first meeting of the grant committee took place in November 2022. Maxim Parshin's lawyer asked about the list, which in November entered the first meeting of the grant committee, including the number of companies. Alexander Pavlov was able to recall the approximate number of projects that were at that time in the ranked list - more than 400, and it was difficult to name the date when the list of companies from Monosov was added.

On some issues of defense, the state prosecutor stated that earlier the witness had already answered them, or noted that the question was asked not specifically. And Alexander Pavlov himself also repeatedly asked to specify a particular question, but in terms of questions he pointed out that he had already answered them earlier.

The defense had to reformulate and clarify some questions several times, and against this background, at some point, the emotional degree of interrogation increased. For example, several times Alexander Pavlov was asked who is responsible for the failure of the RFRIT to comply with the deadlines specified in the tender documentation for the competitive selection of projects for the development of Russian IT solutions approved by RFRIT in 2022. And after the 3rd time it was not possible to receive a specific answer and a new request from Alexander Pavlov to clarify the question, lawyer Denis Saushkin urged the witness not to arrange a "circus in court."

Also, the defense side from several visits tried to clarify, for example, the reasons for the repeated postponement of the meetings of the grant committee to consider projects at the end of 2022. Alexander Pavlov said that the significant and significant reasons for the transfer were only the delay on the part of Maxim Parshin and his subordinate Aleksei Popov. The final question was the witness about the presence of RFRIT at the moment of claims against companies from the "Monosov list" that have received grants. Alexander Pavlov replied that he had no information about any claims against them.

After that, the judge raised the question of the end of the interrogation of the witness. No one objected. At the same time, Parshin's lawyer Darya Shulgina drew attention to the fact that at the moment the defense is deprived of the opportunity to ask a question with the presentation of documents. And this, in her opinion, is essential to confirm or refute the position of the prosecution. In this regard, it is necessary to repeat the call of this witness at the defense stage, she believes.

The interrogation of six more witnesses of the prosecution is ahead. Who will follow immediately after Alexander Pavlov was not voiced at the meeting. The next court session is scheduled for October 21.

Following the trial, Alexander Pavlov, in a conversation with TAdviser, noted that, in his opinion, in questions to him from the defense, there was a quest mode "what would happen if," and many of them did not relate to the case under consideration.

There was, among other things, an excursion on the charter of the RFRIT, which is approved by a regulatory act of the government of the Russian Federation, there were issues related to the powers of the ministry, the presidential administration, and even on the details of the functioning of the register of Russian software. What does this have to do with the consideration of the case is a big question. In addition, some questions were multi-part in a paragraph, which made it difficult to perceive their essence, increased the time of the meeting and forced to repeatedly repeat what had been said. I would like more clarity, - says the general director of RFRIT.

Alexander Pavlov added that despite the interrogation completed for him in court, he will follow further updates on the case and the testimony of other witnesses of the prosecution.

Maxim Parshin asks for SVO

In September 2024, Maxim Parshin, who is being tried in a criminal corruption case, expressed a desire to take part in a special operation in Ukraine and has already written the statement necessary for this, a source familiar with him told TAdviser (more here).

The prosecutor presented the results of wiretapping and video surveillance in the criminal case of Maxim Parshin

In the corruption criminal case of the former Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin, a court session was held on September 23, at which the state prosecutor presented the evidence collected by the investigation. The TAdviser correspondent, who visited the court, reports that the interrogation of the witness, General Director of RFRITAlexander Pavlov, continued at the last meeting. The court was presented with the results of operational-search activities (ORD), which was started after submitting a witness statement to the police. The correspondence of the witness in Telegram and the tables handed over to them, containing materials on the company from the "Monosov list," were also studied.

The evidence of the guilt of Maxim Parshin, collected by the investigation, was considered

The defenders of the accused tried to transfer the hearings to a closed regime, since, in their opinion, the announcement of the case materials could harm third companies, but the state prosecutor, prosecutor Tretyakov, said that he did not see any classified information in the information that he was going to announce. Judge Zhelyazkova agreed with his arguments, and the case continued to be considered in open mode.

The state prosecutor presented excerpts from the description of the evidence in the case - audio recordings and recordings from CCTV cameras, which were held in the Uryuk restaurant, where the former general director of BFT Holding Alexander Monosov and Alexander Pavlov discussed opportunities to promote some list of companies, which is conditionally called the "Monosov list." These companies have already been registered for the RFRIT competition and received registration numbers. Applications were considered not by the names of companies, but by these numbers, so in the dialogue they were called "numbers."

Next, several fragments of transcripts of audio recordings were presented, which were made as part of the ORD in the offices of the Ministry of Digital Development at the time of discussion and final decision-making on financing projects in December 2022. In these dialogues between Alexander Pavlov, Aleksei Popov and other organizers of the competition, the best way to distinguish companies from the "Monosov list" in the materials of the competition was discussed: either simply in color or as recommended by the Ministry of Digital Development.

In addition, correspondence was given in the Telegram messenger between Maxim Parshin, Aleksei Popov and Alexander Pavlov. In particular, in this correspondence there were two table files, which the witness (Pavlov) called a list of companies that were lobbied by Alexander Monosov. Although the witness initially spoke of 12-13 companies on the list, there were 14 and 15 of them in the tables.

The prosecutor also presented an excerpt from a list of 73 companies that were listed in a file on a flash drive transmitted to witness Ilya Massukh, director of the ANO CKIT. There, all companies from the "Monosov list" were marked as recommended for consideration by the ANO CKIT. However, when considering the full table in detail (as it turned out, the prosecutor voiced only an excerpt) of such "recommended CKIT" turned out to be 34 companies, which is much more than the "Monosov list."

These materials, according to the investigation, must prove the lobbying of companies from the "Monosov list" by Maxim Parshin. However, the defenders of the accused at the next meeting plan to ask the witness their questions and present their own point of view on the evidence presented by the investigation.

RFRIT General Director Alexander Pavlov witnessed by the state prosecutor in the criminal case of ex-Deputy Minister Parshin

On September 9, 2024, a regular court session was held in the criminal case of the former Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin. The TAdviser correspondent, who visited the court, reports that at the meeting this time the testimony of Alexander Pavlov, the general director of RFRIT, was heard . Grants to support import substitution were distributed through the Russian Information Technology Development Fund, which eventually became the backdrop for a high-profile criminal case in which Pavlov is a witness.

The general director of RFRIT in court confirmed the previously put forward version of the accusation that there was lobbying on the part of Maxim Parshin for the interests of companies, the list of which was allegedly provided to him first by the former general director of BFT Holding Alexander Monosov, and then Maxim Parshin himself. In total, there were more than ten companies on the original list.

Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov with lawyers

Alexander Pavlov said that when the list of projects was prepared for the meeting of the grant committee, the companies promoted by Alexander Monosov should not have been submitted to the grant commission for consideration. However, according to him, at one of the meetings, Ilya Massukh, director of the ANO CKIT, prepared new criteria for evaluating projects, which Pavlov was instructed to bring to the grant committee, although he saw such serious changes as a violation of the competitive procedure.

According to the witness, it was these new criteria that allegedly made it possible to include Alexander Monosov's companies in the list of applications and prioritize them for consideration by the grant committee. As a result, all names from the "Monosov list" were included in the final list for consideration from 73 companies. Some of the projects of these companies received pomegranate financing in 2022, and some were postponed to the next budget cycle, that is, for consideration in 2023.

Pavlov confirmed that Maxim Parshin put pressure on the grant committee with the participation of his subordinate Aleksei Popov due to the assertion that the allegedly indicated companies are supported by the Ministry of Digital Development department and their proposals should be considered as a priority. The pressure, according to the witness, was due to the fact that all participants in the grant committee were appointed by the supervisory board of the RFRIT, the powers of the chairman of which were exercised by Maxim Parshin, and Ilya Massukh was its member.

Alexander Pavlov considered such pressure a violation of the competitive procedure and appealed to law enforcement agencies with a statement about the possible fact of corruption conspiracy.

At the same time, the witness explained that both the new selection criteria proposed by Ilya Massukh and the recommendations of the Ministry of Digital Development department, which the Aleksei Popov voiced, are not binding on the members of the grant committee, although there were representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development and representatives of the ANO CKIT. In addition, any of the members of the grant committee could submit their recommendations during the discussion process, Alexander Pavlov is not aware of other lists.

Maxim Parshin himself had questions about the independent examination procedure, which was carried out by expert companies commissioned by RFRIT. The questions were as follows: how and who chose the companies to conduct it and how accurately the deadlines for preparing expert opinions were observed, without which the assessment of projects and further selection of the best were impossible. He asked them at a court hearing, but the prosecution asked the judge to dismiss them as irrelevant.

Alexander Pavlov only explained that the experts were selected according to the competitive procedure, and several expert organizations were involved in evaluating the projects. The witness did not name information about what organizations they were and by what criteria their examination was assessed.

The position of the prosecution in the criminal case of ex-Deputy Minister Parshin was announced. It "lit up" the companies "Logic of Business," BSS, "Rustek" and others

On September 2, 2024, during the first court session as part of the consideration of the merits of the criminal case on corruption, in which Maxim Parshin and the former general director of BFT Holding Alexander Monosov are defendants, the state prosecutor, prosecutor Evdokimova, announced the indictment. The TAdviser correspondent attended the open meeting.

The indictment, which was read out by the prosecutor, states that Maxim Parshin , when he was Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development, ensured the coordination of the implementation of the Digital Technologies fedproject of the Digital Economy of the Russian Federation national program, coordinated the work of the IT Industry Development Department and the International Cooperation Department, and ensured the participation of Ministry of Digital Development in the activities of the RFRIT Supervisory Board .

Through the RFRIT, in particular, subsidies were issued from the budget as part of the implementation of state support measures aimed at the development and implementation of Russian software. Parshin ensured the implementation of these state support measures and coordinated the activities of RFRIT. According to the prosecution, being a member of the RFRIT supervisory board, Parshin had the opportunity to influence the activities of the fund and its governing bodies, including the supervisory board, board and general director.

Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov before the start of the court session on September 2

In April 2022, RFRIT launched an open competition for the issuance of grants at the expense of subsidies, in which any Russian legal entity that submitted an application in accordance with the tender documentation, except for government agencies, could take part. As part of the competitive selection, the RFRIT grant committee is authorized to consider the materials of applications, examinations and other materials, determine the winners of competitive selection, and approve the list of recipients of grants.

According to the prosecution, no later than 14.10.2022, Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov reached an agreement between themselves that that Parshin, by virtue of his official position, for facilitating the receipt by a number of organizations of RFRIT grants by using the significance and authority of his position to influence other officials of the ministry, RFRIT, members of the grant committee will receive a bribe from Monosov in the form of money in the amount of 5% to 10% of the amount of grants provided to organizations after such decisions are made by the grant committee.

Monosov no later than 14.10.2022 year provided Parshin with a list of a number of legal entities in whose victory in the competitive selection he was interested. Monosov, on behalf of Parshin, on November 9, 2022, using Telegram, sent a list of application numbers for participation in the competitive selection received from these organizations to the general director of RFRIT Alexander Pavlov, and on November 18, 2022 sent Pavlov an adjusted list of application numbers and the corresponding names of legal entities and projects submitted to the competition. It included Banks Soft Systems (BSS), Business Logic, Boss Personnel Systems, Information Systems and Strategies, Inspark, Polimatika Rus, 1Forma, Rustek, New Telecom Solutions and a number of others.

Then Parshin, according to the prosecution, during the competitive selection period no later than December 16, 2022, "repeatedly demanded" that the director general of RFRIT Alexander Pavlov, who was unaware of his intentions, organizing the competitive selection, provide support for projects submitted for the competition, companies in the list provided by the Monosov and their priority consideration by the grant committee when determining the recipients of grants.

Parshin also gave instructions to the uninformed about his intentions as Deputy Director of the IT Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Digital Development, a member of the grant committee Aleksei Popov consider the projects of the above organizations as "priority and approved by the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia" during the competitive selection, Communicate this information to other members of the grant committee and make a proposal for additional consideration of applications for participation in the competitive selection, received from organizations submitted by Monosov, thereby ensuring their consideration at a committee meeting as "priority and recommended Ministry of Digital Development of Russia."

Later, during the competition, Parshin repeatedly gave such instructions to Popov, the prosecutor added.

The instructions were executed. Popov, on behalf of Parshin, ensured the preferential consideration of the above projects at a meeting of the grant committee when making decisions on the approval or rejection of applications for grants.

At the same time, in December 2022, during the competition, Parshin, knowing the unavailability of all the necessary documents provided for in the tender documentation and the results of independent examinations of applications submitted by Monosov to the tender participants, in order to prevent the distribution of grant support funds among other legal entities, instructed Popov and Pavlov to postpone the adoption of decisions on granting grants at the upcoming meetings of the grant committee.

At the same time, not all companies declared in the "Monosov list" received grants. They went to several legal entities. They were allocated grants in the amount of 70 million to 100 million rubles.

In accordance with the previously reached agreement, taking into account the grants received by a number of organizations, the total amount of the bribe was calculated in the amount of 31.5 million rubles, which consists of 5-10% of the amount of grants issued. On July 12, 2023, part of this bribe in the form of money 3.75 million rubles in the amount of Monosov personally handed over to Parshin at the Voronezh restaurant in Moscow, the prosecutor said.

Monosov and Parshin do not admit guilt under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation imputed to them. Monosov said that he would give detailed explanations in the future during the interrogation. Parshin will also give detailed testimony and answer all questions at the stage of providing evidence to the defense.

The former deputy minister added that "the entire annual result of the investigation boils down to a biased and distorted interpretation of individual facts." In his opinion, certain facts and the results of operational-search measures are "adjusted" to "the decision that there should be a bribe."

I am ready to declare that all my actions at the end of 2022 were aimed solely at correcting the catastrophic situation with the competitive selection of applications for grants. If I had not intervened then, then many worthy projects in the field of information technology, which are implemented in the interests of Russian citizens, organizations, state bodies under sanctions, simply would not have reached the stage of meaningful consideration and would not have had a chance to be supported, - said Maxim Parshin at the trial.

He added that he could have cited plenty of evidence to support this and would certainly do so later.

Maybe at some point I went beyond my own formal powers - I don't know that. But at that moment I could not do otherwise. I was responsible for the development of the IT industry in the country as a whole, was responsible for import substitution of software, including at critical information infrastructure facilities and could not allow the inefficient use of public funds and the ineffective use of state support measures. As we now see, the result of my actions is extremely positive: there is no damage, there are no victims, no victims, there are no civil lawsuits, but there are projects that have been successfully implemented without exception, IT products have been created and are working on the market that successfully replace the best foreign solutions. And budget money is eventually returned to the budget in the form of taxes.

The former official expressed the hope that "the court will figure it out and make a fair decision."

The first court session was held with the participation of Maxim Parshin

On September 2, 2024, a trial in a criminal corruption case was launched, in which the defendants are the former Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maxim Parshin and the ex-general director of BFT Holding Alexander Monosov. In the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow, the first meeting was held with the presence of Parshin on it. Earlier, he was not twice taken from the pre-trial detention center to the planned court session.

Maxim Parshin at a court session

The meeting was attended, among other things, by the TAdviser correspondent. Parshin's lawyer first filed a motion to hold a closed session due to the fact that it is planned to announce at trial information related to the state of health of his relatives, which is not subject to disclosure. However, the court refused this without seeing the grounds for derogating from the principle of publicity.

And the state prosecutor - prosecutor Evdokimova - said at the meeting a petition to extend the term of detention of Maxim Parshin for six months, until February 12. Prior to that, Parshin was last extended in custody until October 12, 2024. Parshin's lawyer objected and stated that there were no arguments for further detention of her client, asked to soften the preventive measure and transfer him to house arrest. The court, however, did not grant the lawyer's request and extended Parshin's detention, as requested by a representative of the prosecutor's office.

At the last meeting, the state prosecutor presented an indictment. Briefly, the essence of the accusation is that, according to the investigation, Parshin, by agreement with Monosov, contributed to the priority consideration of applications for grants RFRIT from a number of companies and their victory in the competitive selection. At the same time, the general director of RFRIT, Alexander Pavlov, was not aware of the agreements between Parshin and Monosov, it follows from the voiced position of the prosecutor's office.

According to the investigation, there was an agreement on a bribe in the amount of 31.5 million, and in the rubles restaurant "" the Voronezh Monosov personally transferred only part of it to Parshin.

Parshin and Monosov do not admit their guilt in the crime imputed to them. Both will give detailed testimony later, at the stage of presenting evidence to the defense in court.

Parshin said that all his actions were aimed at correcting the "catastrophic situation" with the competitive selection of applications for grants.

The case has been adjourned. Maxim Parshin was again not taken to court, although everyone was waiting

On August 26, 2024, the Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow postponed for the second time the consideration of the merits of the criminal case of corruption against the former Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maxim Parshin and the ex-general director of BFT Holding Alexander Monosov. The reason is the same as last time: Maxim Parshin was not taken to court from the pre-trial detention center, according to a TAdviser correspondent who visited the Khamovnichesky District Court.

I must say that it happens infrequently when the defendant, whom everyone is waiting for the hearing in court, is not delivered more than once in a row. What this is connected with in the case of Maxim Parshin is unknown. Those who were present in court, from whom TAdviser tried to find out the possible reasons, were not aware.

Alexander Monosov (pictured second from left) and lawyers in the courtroom

At the same time, Alexander Monosov arrived at the Khamovnichesky District Court, as expected, who, unlike the ex-deputy minister, has not been detained since July. Two of his lawyers were present with him.

One of Monosov's defenders, Denis Saushkin (pictured third from left), is an expert under the office of the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs and was awarded the gold medal of the Ministry of Justice of Russia "For Assistance." Maxim Parshin's lawyer, Darya Shulgina, works at the same law office as Denis Saushkin, ZKS.

The judge announced to the audience that the meeting was postponed to September 2.

Exit from SIZO Alexander Monosov

On July 12, 2024, the term of detention of Alexander Monosov as a preventive measure expires, while the request of the investigation to extend his detention in the pre-trial detention center was not registered in the database of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow for the previous days, TAdviser found. Thus, there are no more grounds to continue to keep Monosov in the pre-trial detention center. The law allows, for example, that in such a case, the investigator can release him on recognizance not to leave.

The Moscow City Court told TAdviser that the detention of Maxim Parshin, who is being held in the same criminal case, was extended on July 8. Moreover, on July 10, his appeal on this matter was already considered with the result not in his favor. The new appointed term in the pre-trial detention center for Maxim Parshin expires on October 12. Earlier, Parshin and Monosov extended the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center at the same time.

It is noteworthy that in early July - shortly before the expiration of the July term in the pre-trial detention center, the investigator asked the Basmanny Court of Moscow to change the measure of restraint from detention to a ban on certain actions, but the court refused this. And the prosecutor who was present at the consideration said then that the investigator's petition was illegal and unfounded.

When resolving the investigator's petition on July 4, the judge took into account that Alexander Monosov, in addition to Russian citizenship, has a passport of an Israeli citizen, according to operational information, has real estate in the EU countries, as well as bank accounts in foreign financial organizations, according to a published decision of the Basmanny Court. In addition, he is accused of committing a particularly serious crime, for which the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment from 8 to 15 years, in connection with which the court in early July came to the conclusion that, that changing the accused Monosov's preventive measure from detention to another milder one may entail risks as the fact that he, for example, can hide.

The same document says that the term of the preliminary investigation in the criminal case has been extended until October 12, 2024. By July 12, it is not possible to complete the investigation, since in the criminal case it is necessary to continue familiarizing Monosov and his defenders with the materials of the criminal case.

Extension of the term in the pre-trial detention center

On July 8, 2024, Maxim Parshin was extended the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center as a preventive measure. He will remain in custody until October 12.

The completion of the investigation of the criminal case

On June 30, 2024, it became known that the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia (GSU TFR) completed the investigation of the criminal case against the former deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin. He is accused of receiving a bribe in the amount of 3.75 million rubles from the ex-general director of Budget and Financial Technologies (BFT) Alexander Monosov for assistance in allocating a grant to the Russian Fund for the Development of Information Technologies (RFRIT).

According to the Kommersant newspaper, the 47-year-old Parshin case is slightly more than 15 volumes, and the investigation lasted less than a year. As of the end of June 2024, the man is in remand prison No. 1 ("Sailor Silence") of the Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN of Russia) in the city of Moscow.

The case against Parshin was initiated under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (taking a bribe on an especially large scale) on the basis of materials from the operational-search activities of the FSB. Informed persons reported that the investigation was based on the results of wiretapping Parshin's telephone conversations, including with Monosov, who was accused of giving a bribe (part 5 of article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The defendants in the case do not admit their guilt. At the same time, the businessman's lawyer Denis Saushkin says that Parshin did not transfer money to his client for lobbying for the interests of BFT. The events that occurred, according to the defense, are a "coincidence of circumstances."

Partners Parshina and Monosova emphasize that the deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development could not single-handedly manage the fund's money with all his desire. According to them, the official only recommends one or another draft commission consisting of invited specialized experts, but his own voice "remains only deliberative." Saushkin also points out that there may be inconsistencies in the case: the fact is that the BFT grant was issued in December 2022, and the transfer of a bribe, according to investigators, took place only six months after that.^[1]

Extension of the term in the pre-trial detention center, familiarization with the materials of the criminal case

As TAdviser discovered, on June 10, 2024, the Basmanny Court of Moscow, at the request of the investigation, extended the detention of ex-Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin and ex-general director of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov. They will remain in jail for another month, until July 12, and by that time they will spend almost a year in custody pending the completion of the investigation in the criminal case.

The court ruling, published on the website of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, states that the preliminary investigation in the case reached the finish line: Parshin and Monosov, as well as six of their defenders, were notified of the end of the investigative actions and on May 24 began to familiarize themselves with the materials of the criminal case, the volume of which is 20 volumes plus material evidence.

To familiarize yourself, an additional period of at least one month will be required, which is reasonable and reasonable, the investigation believes.

As before, on May 10, the defense of the accused asked the court to soften their measure of restraint, changing it to house arrest. However, the court refused to satisfy these petitions. According to the court, there is sufficient reason to believe that, while at large, in order to avoid a possible punishment in the form of imprisonment for a long time, the accused can hide from the preliminary investigation and trial. The arguments of the defense that earlier, being under house arrest, Parshin and Monosov did not violate it, had no effect.

In the case of Alexander Monosov, the fact that after the arrest he gave the investigator not only his foreign passport of the Russian Federation, but also the passport of an Israeli citizen, to which one of his lawyers drew the attention of the court, follows from the decision of the Basmanny court.

Extension of the pre-trial detention center until June 12

As TAdviser found out, on April 10, the lawyers of ex-Deputy Minister Maxim Parshin and ex-general director of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov will again try to challenge the preventive measure chosen by their clients. They have been asked more than once to be transferred from the pre-trial detention center to house arrest pending the completion of the investigation and trial in a criminal corruption case.

According to information published in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, the last time the measure of restraint was extended to Parshin and Monosov in March, leaving them in custody until June 12, 2024. The lawyers asked to be returned back to house arrest, which they were under for a short time last year immediately after their arrest, but the court refused to grant the applications.

Investigative actions in the criminal case have not yet been completed and the collection of evidence continues, which, the investigator believes, Parshin and Monosov, being at large, can destroy. The court agreed with the arguments that there were sufficient grounds to believe that, being at large, Parshin and Monosov could hide from the preliminary investigation authorities, as well as otherwise prevent the proceedings in the criminal case^[2].

In the applications for the extension of detention submitted to the court in March, the investigator indicated that it was still necessary: to familiarize the accused and their defenders with the conclusions of 8 phonoscopic forensic examinations; after familiarization with the conclusions of experts, if the accused agree to testify, additionally interrogate them; complete interrogations of witnesses and inspections of items, including electronic media seized during the investigation; to bring the final charge against Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov; perform other investigative and procedural actions.

If the preventive measure cannot be challenged now, then Parshin and Monosov will collectively spend almost a year in the pre-trial detention center.

Maxim Parshin found cryptocurrency and financial assets abroad

In February 2024, the Moscow City Court considered the appeals of the lawyers of ex-Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin and co-owner, ex-general director of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov, in which they asked to appoint their clients a milder preventive measure instead of detention. The court again decided to leave them in jail.

At the same time, in the resolution of the Moscow City Court, published on the portal of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, the previously not mentioned factor "surfaced, which, among others, influenced the decision not to release Maxim Parshin from the pre-trial detention center:" Parshin M.V. has financial assets abroad, as well as assets in digital cryptocurrency "Material^[3]. What kind of assets are we talking about, the document does not specify.

After being detained in July 2023, Maxim Parshin was first sent under house arrest, but then transferred to custody

According to the 273-FZ "On Combating Corruption," persons holding the positions of deputy heads of the Federal Investment Fund, including those who are prohibited from opening and having accounts/deposits, keeping cash and valuables in banks outside the Russian Federation, owning and using foreign financial instruments.

As for Alexander Monosov, deciding on the measure of restraint, the Moscow City Court took into account, among other things, that he had a second citizenship. Earlier, open court documents included information that we are talking about Israeli citizenship.

The last time the preventive measure in the form of detention was extended to the defendants until March 12. It is possible that there may be a further extension, since the court in the appeal ruling states that the criminal case under investigation is distinguished by "a large volume and special complexity."

Details of the investigation into the case of ex-Deputy Minister of Digital Development Parshin and the restaurant where he was given the money were disclosed

The decision of the Basmanny Court to extend the term of detention until March 12, 2024 of Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov, published on the website of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, contains some details of the progress of the investigation in the case.

The document says that the materials presented to the court indicate that there are sufficient grounds to believe that the suspicions of the involvement of Monosov and Parshin in the alleged act are justified, and this is confirmed by the totality of evidence.

In particular, it is indicated in the decision of the Basmanny Court, in the materials of operational-search activities, the fact of the transfer of Monosov funds to Parshin was recorded^[4]. The money that Monosov handed over was found in a bag at a meeting of the accused in a restaurant of Russian provincial cuisine Voronezh"," located To Moscow in 4 Prechistenka Street.

Also in the materials of operational-search activities there are testimony of witnesses, protocols of searches, inspections of objects and other evidence.

Since the previous extension, the accused has taken preventive measures in the form of detention in a criminal case: partially completed the planned investigative actions, including inspections of items and documents seized during searches; Items of importance for the criminal case are attached as material evidence; inspections of carriers on which the results of operational-search activities are presented were carried out. According to the results of examinations, 7 phonoscopic forensic examinations were appointed.

In addition, witnesses were questioned and additional measures were taken to establish property that could be seized. In, the Ministry of Digital Development Russia tax authorities requested documents that are important for the criminal case. Other investigative and procedural actions were also carried out.

The term of the preliminary investigation in the criminal case in December was extended until March 12, 2024. The investigation will have to continue interrogating witnesses and examining items, including electronic media seized during the investigation, as well as media on which the results of operational-search activities are provided.

Also, for example, it is still necessary to obtain the conclusions of the appointed phonoscopic forensic examinations. Phonoscopic examination is one of the types of examination in forensic science, which is carried out to identify and determine the identity by voice and speech recorded on audio media, identify editing or other changes made to the recording, and study a person's voice.

The accused and their defense asked to change their measure of restraint to a milder one - house arrest, citing, among other things, family circumstances. But the court did not see the grounds for this.

According to the court, there is sufficient reason to believe that, being at large, Alexander Monosov and Maxim Parshin can hide from the preliminary investigation and trial authorities, threaten witnesses, as well as otherwise obstruct the proceedings in the criminal case.

2023

Extension of detention

On December 5, 2023, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow granted the request of the investigation and extended the term of detention of the former Deputy Minister of Digital Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Parshin and General Director of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov for a period of 3 months, until March 12, 2024.

It's a matter of particular complexity. The court refused to transfer Maxim Parshin from the pre-trial detention center to house arrest

Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov made an attempt to challenge the decision of the Basmanny Court in the Moscow City Court to extend his detention until December 12. This follows from the appeal decision of the Moscow City Court, published in early October 2023 on the website of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow. ^[5] of the ^[6]

Maxim Parshin, we recall, passes in a criminal case accused under Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale), and Alexander Monosov - under Part 5 of Art. 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ( giving a bribe on an especially large scale). At first, they were placed under house arrest during the investigation, but then they changed the measure of restraint at the pre-trial detention center.

The lawyers of the accused consider the decision of the Basmanny Court illegal and unreasonable and asked to apply a milder measure to their clients, not related to isolation from society.

Parshin's defenders, in particular, referred to the fact that the materials submitted to the court lacked evidence indicating the need to apply an exceptional preventive measure to him in the form of detention. There is no information that Parshin intends to hide from the preliminary investigation and court bodies to prevent the preliminary investigation, the defense believes.

The Moscow City Court, however, pointed out that Maxim Parshin and Alexander Monosov are accused of committing crimes, the commission of which is punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than 3 years.

In a criminal case, a significant amount of investigative and procedural actions must be carried out, what is the reason for the special complexity of the criminal case, and the grounds for changing the preventive measure to another, not associated with isolation from society, there is no reason to believe, that, being at large, Parshin M.V. and Monosov A.N. may hide from the preliminary investigation and court, as well as in another way to prevent the proceedings in a criminal case, - said in the appeal decision of the Moscow City Court.

The arguments of the defense about unjustified prosecution are subject to verification when considering a criminal case on the merits, according to the Moscow City Court. And at this stage of criminal proceedings, there are no grounds to consider that they are not involved in the commission of the acts incriminated to them.

As a result, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Basmanny Court to extend the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center for both of them.

Earlier, in July, when considering the prosecutor's appeal against the court's decision on house arrest of Alexander Monosov, the prosecutor pointed out that Monosov had citizenship of the Russian Federation and Israel, "which could allow him to hide from the preliminary investigation and court"^[7]

And, solving the issue of the measure of restraint for Alexander Monosov, the Moscow City Court took into account, among other things, that he had a second citizenship. Earlier, open court documents already included information that we are talking about Israeli citizenship.

Extension of the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center

On September 7, 2023, the Basmanny Court of Moscow extended the former deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Science Maxim Parshin and the general director of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov the term of detention, which had previously been elected by him as a preventive measure in the framework of a criminal corruption case. This was announced by the official Telegram channel of the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction.

The court decided to extend the measure of restraint to the head of the IT company and the ex-deputy minister of digital development, communications and mass media in the form of detention until December 12, 2023, the published message says.

The consideration of the case on the extension of the period of detention took place behind closed doors. In open mode, there was only the announcement of the court's decision^[8].

Dismissal of Alexander Monosov from the post of general director of BFT

Since September 2023, Alexander Monosov has ceased to be the general director of BFT-Holding, this post was taken by Natalya Zeitenidi, who worked as his first deputy.

Transfer to SIZO

On July 26, 2023, the Moscow City Court canceled ex-Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin of house arrest and sent him to a pre-trial detention center. This was reported by the press service of the Moscow courts of general jurisdiction.

The decision of the Basmanny Court of Moscow to change, to change the measure of restraint for the accused Parshin from house arrest to detention until September 12, the judge announced the decision.

Maxim Parshin was charged with receiving a particularly large bribe (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Maximum liability involves up to 15 years in prison with a fine of up to one hundred times the amount of a bribe and with deprivation to hold certain positions for up to 15 years.

At a meeting of the Moscow City Court, the judge read out the decision of the prosecutor's office, which said that Parshin "does not admit guilt and does not express remorse." At the meeting, according to TASS, the investigation said that Maxim Parshin could use his position "to influence witnesses, including threatening them." In addition, the arrest was insisted on in connection with Parshin's deposits in foreign banks issued for his brother, which he "may use to obstruct justice."

Lawyers in the process countered the arguments of the investigation and argued that Parshin had no intentions to hide or resist the course of the investigation.

The ex-Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development himself said in the Moscow City Court that he was impressed, as a result, for a long time kept him "under the hood" and exercised total control over his life.

According to the investigation, the bribe was received from the head of Budget and Financial Technologies LLC (BFT) Alexander Monosov. On July 26, the Moscow City Court overturned the earlier decision of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow on house arrest against him, too, and ordered Monosov to be transferred to custody until September 12 as a preventive measure.

^[9]

Dismissal from the Ministry of Digital Development

Deputy Minister of Digital Development Maxim Parshin, who is being held in a criminal case on a bribe on an especially large scale, has been dismissed from his post. The corresponding decree was signed on July 18, 2023 by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

To release Parshin Maxim Viktorovich from the post of Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation at his request, - says the document published on July 21 on the official portal of regulatory legal acts.

Transfer of duties to Andrey Zarenin

Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Andrei Zarenin will act as another deputy minister of digital development, Maxim Parshin, who was previously arrested on charges of taking a bribe. This became known on July 20, 2023. Read more here.

Appeal of house arrest by the Prosecutor General's Office

The Prosecutor General's Office appealed against the court's decision on the house arrest of the deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maxim Parshin, accused of taking a bribe of 3.5 million rubles, and the general director and co-owner of BFT-Holding Alexander Monosov, who, according to the investigation, gave the official this bribe. This became known on July 18, 2023.

According to Kommersant, the investigation insisted on placing both accused in the pre-trial detention center, since, in his opinion, Parshin and Monosov "are highly likely" to destroy evidence in the case, threaten witnesses, obstruct the investigation in other ways or hide. The Prosecutor General's Office supported both applications for arrest. However, the Basmanny District Court, which issued the decision, did not find confirmation of the information of the prosecution about the attempts of Parshin and Monosov to put pressure on witnesses or hide.

In turn, the defenders of the defendants presented documents that confirmed the presence of dependent children, chronic diseases, awards and thanks. The judge sent the defendants in the case under house arrest for two months, until September 12, 2023. She forbade them to use mail, the Internet, the phone and contact witnesses in a criminal case.

According to the decisions of the Basmanny District Court, protested by the supervision, Alexander Monosov will be in his apartment, and Maxim Parshin will be in his mother's house in the elite cottage village "Knyazhye Ozero" in the Moscow region. Since the decision published on the court's website does not talk about restrictions on the constant stay of Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development and walks, he can walk around the territory, the newspaper notes.

The Prosecutor General's Office appealed to the Moscow City Court, in which it declared the illegality and unreasonableness of the decisions made in the district court.^[10]

Detention in a bribe case

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. He is accused of corruption.

According to Kommersant, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (TFR) appealed to the Basmanny Court of Moscow with a petition to elect Maxim Parshin a preventive measure in the form of detention. He is charged with taking a bribe on an especially large scale (part 6 of article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, the essence of the sane Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development of act by 18:00 Moscow time on July 13, 2023 is not reported. A Kommersant source in the Russian government said that Parshin was taken red-handed when receiving a bribe.

State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein said in his tg-channel that Parshin was taken red-handed at the time of receiving a bribe of 3.5 million (currency is not specified - note TAdviser) in one of the capital's restaurants. The money, according to the preliminary version, was intended for assistance in the allocation of grants.

"The totality of objective evidence regarding Parshin does not raise doubts about the guilt of the official, which, I hope, will not cast a shadow over the entire department as a whole!," Hinstein added.

According to TAdviser in the Ministry of Digital Development, in connection with the investigation carried out against the deputy head of the department Maxim Parshin, the ministry provides all the necessary assistance to law enforcement agencies.^[11]

At about 22 o'clock in Moscow, information appeared on the website of the Moscow courts that the court issued a decision to refuse to satisfy the petition for Parshin's detention. Later, the Basmanny District Court reported that Parshin was elected a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for a period until September 12, 2023.

Also on July 13, 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. 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.

At about 21 o'clock Moscow time, information appeared on the website of the Moscow courts that the court issued a decision to refuse to satisfy the petition for the detention of Monosov. Later, the Basmanny Court reported that Monosov was elected a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for a period until September 12, 2023.

Author: Natalia Lavrentieva

Notes