Criminal case on abuse of powers of the Chief information officer in the "Post of Russia"
In July 2020, Sergei Emelchenkov, as deputy general director in charge of the digitalization of Russian Post, was detained in connection with a criminal case initiated under Art. 286, part 3, p. C (abuse of office with causing grave consequences). This article is devoted to events related to this criminal case.
Content |
2024
Sergey Emelchenkov voiced his version of events in a criminal case in court
On December 19, 2024, at a meeting of the judicial board of the Moscow City Court on appeal against the earlier verdict, the former Chief information officer of the Russian Post, Sergei Emelchenkov, voiced his version of events and position in the criminal case during the debate. He recalled that we are talking about contracts aimed at servicing computer equipment in the Russian Post. According to their conditions, in case of equipment breakdown, service organizations or employees responsible for this equipment should come to the customer within 4 hours and fix it. And if this is not done, then the money will not be paid. If they came, but repaired with a time delay, then they will be fined.
According to Sergei Emelchenkov, "mistakenly" in the contracts that they signed at one time, the terms of service throughout the Russian Post were greatly tightened, for all its departments: for violation of the period for repairing equipment, even a small one, a disproportionately large fine was imposed for the contractor, because of which it became unprofitable to provide services. And gradually, when various service companies throughout Russia began to work under these contracts, "it turned out that contractors did not receive ruble for their service, moreover, they had to pay extra to the'Russian Post' for what they did not have time to do all computers throughout Russia." Minimal shortcomings have already brought huge fines in favor of the Russian Post, Sergei Emelchenkov explained to the court.
There is nothing wrong with this, and Russian Post would earn money in this way, if not for one thing: as soon as contractors also needed to add their own money in order to update cash registers, they did not have the funds to do this. And the first to encounter this was the macro-region of the Ural Post of Russia: in July 2018, he sounded the alarm, because the contractor refused to perform any services.
The Ural macroregion found the cause of the problem, worked out options and scenarios for solving it and proposed what exactly needs to be corrected in the contract so that everything works correctly. At a meeting on the VKS, then the leadership of the macroregion proposed a way out of this problem, and there it was also decided to correct the corresponding inconsistency in the contracts. "I had nothing to do with these agreements before they brought me to sign," said Sergei Emelchenkov.
And Andrei Sinichkin, according to his official instructions, initiated additional agreements where this problem was corrected, explained Sergei Emelchenkov. Moreover, these additional agreements passed all the necessary approvals at all the necessary levels, as prescribed by the contractual instruction of the Russian Post. For the signature of Sergei Emelchenkov, according to him, they arrived in a fully agreed form.
At the same time, it is important to understand that in most small district centers and villages there are no banking structures and no state institutions except the Russian Post, and 50% of pensioners at that time received a pension in the Russian Post.
 | If we had not corrected this problem, then the branches of the Russian Post would have stopped working. If we could not pay our pension, social benefits, could not accept money for kindergartens, then it would be a social explosion. Thus, making a decision, from my point of view, absolutely legitimate - to sign an additional agreement that corrects this problem, I prevented big problems in the Russian Post, "said Sergei Emelchenkov. |  |
In his opinion, the onset of grave consequences has not been proven. The examination ordered by the investigation is "just a mathematical problem that considers, if all acts were signed at one time without additional agreements, how much would the contractors pay to the Russian Post for the right to work for the Russian Post, and how much it actually paid after signing additional agreements." We are not talking about a specific economic or accounting examination, he says.
The arbitration courts and subsequently the Supreme Court recognized as unjust enrichment what the party charges in the case as damage - i.e., the fact that the Russian Post took fines from its contractors that exceed the cost of work, said Sergei Emelchenkov.
At the same time, additional agreements did not increase the total value of the contract, and Russian Post paid only for the work that was completed. The budgets that Russian Post allocated for these services were saved - less money was spent than originally planned.
Among other points that Sergei Emelchenkov drew the attention of the court was that he did not have an understanding that he had violated some day's restrictions. His job descriptions did not require an understanding of procurement legislation. And none of his colleagues pointed out any violations.
Andrei Sinichkin, in his speech during the debate, also voiced the position that the initial reason for the development of "catastrophic events" and in the future for the conclusion of additional agreements to contracts involved in the criminal case was a standard contract for the provision of services developed by lawyers of the Russian Post in the preparation of procurement documentation and auctions in 2018, and contained "bondage conditions" for service providers. This, he added, is confirmed by the decisions of several arbitration courts attached during the court session.
In his last word at the meeting on December 19, Sergei Emelchenkov noted that at the time of his employment in the Russian Post there were a large number of jokes about the quality of the service provided to her. According to him, at that time the company transferred 40 thousand parcels a day and received about 15 million rubles from IT services. And subsequently, the situation changed significantly for the better:
| | During my work on the Mail, the number of parcels that the Mail transmits on peak days has increased 100 times. This is impossible without the high-quality work of IT services. And these IT services were implemented for the same budgets that were in the Post before. I managed to save a huge amount of money - tens of billions of rubles by optimizing the work of the Post, we were able to make its work optimal. And now "Mail" receives a third of its turnover through IT services and systems. | |
Appeal against the verdict in the appellate instance
On December 23, 2024, the judicial board of the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict to the former Chief information officer of Russian Post Sergei Emelchenkov and his ex-colleague Andrei Sinichkin, who worked as the head of the IT services management department. TAdviser was informed about this by one of the lawyers of Sergei Emelchenkov. According to him, further the verdict is planned to be appealed to the cassation instance.
The meeting of the judicial board of the Moscow City Court, which examined the appeals of Sergei Emelchenkov, Andrei Sinichkin and their defenders, took place a little earlier, on December 19. However, the announcement of the decision on the appeal did not take place on the same day, but was postponed to December 23. Why the appellate instance in the end did not agree with the arguments of the defendants and their defenders is still unknown: only the operative part of the decision of the judicial board was provided in court.
At
As the TAdviser correspondent, who attended the meeting on December 19, previously reported, Sergei Emelchenkov and Andrei Sinichkin took part in it on the Aerospace Forces. Defenders said they consider the verdict unfair and insist that the damage to the Russian Post was not caused. And the Russian Post itself did not put forward claims for damages.
Lawyer Alexei Kirsanov referred, among other things, to the interrogation of the chief accountant of Russian Post, which had previously taken place in court, which showed that "Russian Post did not suffer any lost profit, the lost profit was not properly reflected in the books."
In connection with the controversial service contract, several reviews in arbitration courts that reached the Supreme Court also took place earlier. The latter established that the legal nature of the amount of money imputed as damage is the unjust enrichment of the Russian Post due to the inclusion in the contract of deliberately unfavorable conditions that the contractor could not refuse, said one of Sergei Emelchenkov's lawyers. The defender added that damage could not be caused in the form of a lack of unjust enrichment.
Also, from the position of protection, the fact of abuse of power has not been proven, as well as preliminary collusion.
At the same time, amendments to the contract for servicing computer equipment, with which a violation of the law is associated in the verdict, was initiated by the Ural macro-region, and not personally by Emelchenkov, the defense says and Emelchenkov and Sinichkin confirm.
The process of agreeing on contracts and additional agreements to them in the Russian Post is strictly regulated. Therefore, before getting signed by Sergei Emelchenkov, the documents with changes to the service contract, which subsequently resulted in a criminal case, were agreed by all the persons through whom they were supposed to go according to the regulations, and no one raised the issue of any of their illegality.
Sergei Emelchenkov and Andrei Sinichkin also explained at the hearing that the original terms of the specified contract were bondage for the performers - the used method of calculating penalties essentially established fines for the performers that exceeded payment for services. This could lead to interruptions in the service of equipment, and, accordingly, created a threat to stop the work of the Russian Post offices. The first to experience the consequences of these conditions was the macro-region of the Urals of the Russian Post, so he initiated changes to the agreement, which were formalized by additional agreements.
Regarding the lack of coordination with the Ministry of Digital Development of making changes to the service contract related to penalties: the document to which the prosecution refers as a basis for coordination with the Ministry of Digital Development is not registered with the Ministry of Justice and is not an NPA, one of the lawyers noted. In his argument, he referred to the answer received from the Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development itself.
Sergei Emelchenkov and Andrei Sinichkin asked the court to find them not guilty and issue an acquittal instead of the earlier one.
| | "I sincerely believe that it is not my fault, and if I had the opportunity, I would have all possible problems, knowing about them, that I was violating something, I would, of course, fix it," Sergei Emelchenkov told the court. | |
Read the full position of Sergei Emelchenkov in the criminal case, voiced by him in the Moscow City Court, in the next material, TAdviser which will be published later.
Criminal conviction: 3.5 years in prison
On August 5, 2024, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow announced the verdict in the criminal case of Sergei Emelchenkov, former deputy general director for IT and development of digital services at Russian Post, and his former colleague Andrei Sinichkin, who worked at Russian Post as the head of the IT services management department.
The court found Sergei Emelchenkov guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of office with causing grave consequences), the TAdviser correspondent reports from the courtroom. The appointed punishment is 3.5 years of imprisonment with serving in a general regime correctional colony with deprivation of the right to hold senior positions related to organizational, administrative, administrative and economic functions in the civil service for 2.5 years.
Andrei Sinichkin was also found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to a term of 3 years with serving in a general regime colony and the same restriction on work in the civil service as in the case of Sergei Emelchenkov.
Emelchenkova and Sinichkina were taken into custody right in the courtroom until the verdict came into force. The term of being under house arrest from July 2020 to October 2021, Sergei Emelchenkov is counted based on the calculation of two days of house arrest for one day of imprisonment, and detention until the sentence comes into force - one day for a day and a half.
Apparently, being ready for detention after the announcement of the verdict, both defendants initially arrived at the court with large bags. Earlier, Emelchenkov was under recognizance not to leave as a preventive measure.
Sergei Emelchenkov and Andrei Sinichkin do not admit their guilt in the crime imputed to them.
Alexey Kirsanov, the lawyer of Sergei Emelchenkov, told TAdviser that he considers the verdict illegal and unreasonable, especially given that "there was no damage." As soon as the full text of the verdict is received, it will be appealed, the lawyer added.
The verdict can be appealed on appeal to the Moscow City Court within 15 days from the date of the proclamation, the judge announced.
The prosecution requested 5.5 years in prison for the defendants in the criminal case
At the end of July 2024, it became known that the state prosecution requested for the former deputy general director of the Russian Post Sergei Emelchenkov and the head of the IT services management department of the company Andrei Sinichkin five and a half years in prison. They are involved in a criminal case on changing the system of penalties for four IT companies that were contractors of the Russian Post.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow is considering the case. According to the investigation, in the period from February to October 2018, Emelchenkov, who served as deputy general director of the Russian Post for information technology and the development of new products, and Sinichkin "deliberately violated the requirements" of federal law No. 223 "On the procurement of goods, works, services by certain types of legal entities." It is alleged that these persons, exceeding their official powers, made significant changes to the technical specifications of the contracts concluded with Servionica LLC, Ai-Teko JSC, Maykor-Service LLC and Jet Infosystems JSC.
In addition, according to the case file, additional agreements were signed with the named companies, providing for a multiple reduction in the amount of fines imposed for improper fulfillment of previously concluded contracts. As a result of these actions, according to the prosecution, the Russian Post suffered damage in the amount of 1.58 billion rubles. Emelchenkov and Sinichkin are accused of abuse of office with serious consequences (part 3 of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In addition to the prison term, the prosecution asks to recover the entire amount of damage from the defendants.
At the same time, the defense believes that there is no corpus delicti in the actions of the defendants. In particular, lawyer Alexei Kirsanov, representing the interests of Emelchenkov, believes that the prosecution "very freely interprets the concept of damage," considering it not real money, but some funds lost "as a result of amendments to the contracts of penalties."[1]
2023
Start of criminal trial
As TAdviser found out, on April 26, 2023, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow began consideration on the merits of a criminal case in which the accused are Sergei Emelchenkov, former deputy general director for IT and development of digital services at Russian Post, and his former colleague Andrei Sinichkin, who worked at Russian Post, head of the IT services management department.
Alexey Kirsanov, the lawyer of Sergei Emelchenkov, told TAdviser that at the hearing on April 26, the prosecutor announced the charge. Both former employees of the Russian Post are charged under Art. 286, part 3, p. C (abuse of office with causing serious consequences). The maximum possible punishment under this article is up to 10 years in prison.
Sergei Emelchenkov and Andrei Sinichkin do not agree with the accusations, they do not admit guilt, says Alexei Kirsanov.
The trial started almost three years after the initiation of the criminal case. In July 2020, after the arrest, Sergei Emelchenkov was sent under house arrest, but in October 2021, the preventive measure was replaced with a recognizance not to leave the place and proper behavior. The investigation was completed at the end of 2022.
Andrei Sinichkin at first was a witness in this criminal case, but shortly before the end of the investigation, his status changed, and he also became an accused.
The official statement of the Investigative Committee said earlier that, according to the investigation, in the period from February to October 2018, Sergei Emelchenkov, "clearly going beyond his powers," signed an additional agreement to the state contract, tenfold underestimating the amount of the fine of the Russian Post contractors for improper execution of previously concluded agreements with them. As a result of these actions, according to the TFR, the Russian Post suffered 67.5 million rubles in damage. The contractor for this state contract was Servionica.
The next hearing as part of the trial is scheduled for mid-May. The process can take a long time. First, the prosecution will present evidence to the court, and then - the accused and their defenders.
The appearance of a new defendant in a criminal case
As TAdviser found out in February 2023, another person involved, Andrei Sinichkin, appeared in the criminal case of Sergei Emelchenkov, the former Chief information officer of Russian Post. The database of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow states that it takes place in the case under the same article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as Sergei Emelchenkov - Art. 286, part 3, p. C (abuse of office with causing serious consequences)[2]. Read more here.
2021
Release from house arrest
According to the database of the courts, in Moscow Moscow City Court October 2021 he returned the petition of the investigation to extend the preventive measure to Sergei Emelchenkov. Judge Alexander Rybak refused to consider on the merits the petition of the investigator (Investigative Committee of Russia TFR) to extend the term of house arrest to Emelchenkov and returned the petition.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, the judge referred to Art. 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which says that 12 months is the maximum term of imprisonment under house arrest, and it can be extended only with the consent of the head of the department, that is, the chairman of the TFR Alexander Bastrykin. The judge considered the signature under the petition of the head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow insufficient and returned the petition as filed by an unauthorized person. As a result, house arrest of Sergei Emelchenkov was replaced by a recognizance not to leave and proper behavior[3], he[4].
Lawyer Alexei Kirsanov, who defends Sergei Emelchenkov in court, told TAdviser that the defense was waiting for such a decision, since the detention under house arrest was extended several times. However, the court's refusal to consider the petition came as a surprise to the defense. The lawyer believes that such a decision of the Moscow City Court significantly increases the chance of winning the case.
Regarding the return of Sergei Emelchenkov to work at the Post, Russia Alexei Kirsanov noted:
| | Now it is important for us to win the case, and we will deal with the issues of restoration and compensation later. | |
General Director of Russian Post Maxim Akimov: there is no reason for the dismissal of Sergei Emelchenkov
Deputy General Director of Russian Post Sergei Emelchenkov, who oversaw digitalization and was accused of abuse of office, was not dismissed from the company, there is no reason for this, TAdviser said at a press conference in January 2021, Post CEO Maxim Akimov.
He added that due to the election of a preventive measure to Emelchenkov, he cannot visit the office and perform his production functions, they are performed instead by other employees. Earlier, the Russian Post told TAdviser that in the absence of Sergei Emelchenkov, Vladimir Savkin was appointed to the position of acting deputy general director for information technology.
Maxim Akimov noted that his position as the head of Sergei Emelchenkov and as a person is simple:
| | Until the court decision comes into force, a person is considered innocent who has not committed a crime, even if charges are brought against that person. They still need to be confirmed and proved in court, "he said | |
As of early January 2021, an investigation is still underway in the case in which Sergei Emelchenkov is being accused. On January 12, the Chertanovsky District Court extended his stay under house arrest, judging by the information in the database of courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow.
The period 2019-2020. surpassed all past times in the number of arrested celebrities of the IT industry. Some of them have been under house arrest since their arrest, and some have been in jail for long months while the investigation and trial are underway, even after repeated attempts to get a milder measure of restraint. TAdviser closely monitors the development of the most resonant criminal cases, and industry associations are developing measures to mitigate pressure. Read more in a separate article.
2020
Sergei Emelchenkov was not released from house arrest
On August 20, 2020, the appellate instance of the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Chertanovsky District Court on the measure of restraint of Sergei Emelchenkov, Deputy General Director for Information Technologies and the Development of Digital Services. The relevant information is posted on the website of the Moscow City Court.
Earlier, Sergei Emelchenkov was placed under house arrest. The appeal was received by the defense on August 6. A source close to Emelchenkov's defense explained to TAdviser that according to the results of the appeal by the appellate instance, the preventive measure chosen for him in the form of house arrest could be changed to a recognizance not to leave the place and an obligation of proper behavior. However, the court left him under house arrest.
The history of the project that caused the criminal case
TAdviser managed to find out the details of the criminal case on abuse of authority by the Chief information officer of Russian Post Sergei Emelchenkov. It applies to 10 IT infrastructure maintenance contracts concluded by Mail in 2018 with four companies: Jet Infosystems, I-Teco, Servionica (part of I-Teco), New Service Technologies (part of the Maykor group).
The contracts were concluded for 3 years, their total amount amounted to 9.77 billion rubles. In 2018, TAdviser covered this project in detail (see separate article).
The essence of the claims and house arrest
On July 15, a court hearing was held. As the lawyer said, referring to the data of 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.
Penalties under the contract amounted to 350 million, rubles then they were reduced to 37 million, and the amount of damage allegedly amounted to 67 million rubles, the city news agency reports. " Moscow The lawyer questioned the accuracy of the amounts indicated in the case file. According to the lawyer, the case will soon be closed for lack of corpus delicti.
The official statement of the Investigative Committee says that, "according to the investigation, in the period from February to October 2018, the accused, clearly going beyond his powers, in violation of the established procedure for coordinating large transactions with the supervising ministry, signed an additional agreement to the state contract, ten times underestimating the amount of the fine for improper execution of the contract. As a result of his illegal actions, FSUE Russian Post unreasonably made payments to contractors for more than 67 million rubles. "
The involvement of the defendant in the incriminated act, according to the UK, is confirmed by the testimony of witnesses, as well as the results of the operational-search measures.
Emelchenkov did not admit his guilt.
Nevertheless, the judge did not agree to release Emelchenkov on bail and appointed him a preventive measure in the form of house arrest until September 13. He will serve his arrest in a cottage village near the village of Milyukovo, 25 km from the Moscow Ring Road along the Kyiv highway.
Servionica is a member of the I-Teco group of companies and specializes in IT outsourcing. The company's revenue in 2019 amounted to 4.7 billion rubles. Servionica has been cooperating with Russian Post since at least 2015 (the public procurement portal does not provide earlier information). In particular, they had contracts for the provision of data center services, for the implementation of an IT system for personnel management, for the technical support of software and hardware systems, including cash registers. The total amount of contracts in 2015-2018. exceeded 4 billion rubles. Having become a joint stock company in 2019, Post has ceased to disclose contractors under its contracts, so there has been no public information about the relationship between the companies in recent years.
Charge of abuse of authority with serious consequences
On July 15, the press service of the Chertanovsky court of Moscow reported that Sergei Emelchenkov was charged under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - he was charged with abuse of office with serious consequences. The investigation petitioned for Emelchenkov to be elected a preventive measure in the form of house arrest with a term of September 13.
Acts provided for in Part 3 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 10 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years.
Emelchenkov is defended by four lawyers: Mustafin Ildar Rayazovich, Zotov Artur Vladimirovich, Lyubimov Anton Andreevich and Fedosimov Boris Alexandrovich.
Detention
On July 14, Sergei Emelchenkov was detained by law enforcement agencies, a source familiar with the leadership of Russian Post told TAdviser. On July 15, the Russian Post confirmed the detention of a top manager and reported that a criminal case against Emelchenkov was opened by the Investigation Department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee in Moscow.
| | The company interacts with law enforcement agencies in investigating all the circumstances of the incident, the Mail said. | |
TAdviser could not contact Sergei Emelchenkov himself, since his phone was turned off.
On the day of Emelchenkov's arrest, according to TAdviser, investigative measures were taken in a number of IT companies. According to sources, investigators visited NCC, Merlion, Jet Infosystems, Ai-Teko, Technoserv, Maykor.
Notes
- ↑ Fines recalculated in years
- ↑ Information on the case No. 01-0094/2023
- ↑ [https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5028663?from=main. Without Alexander Bastrykin
- ↑ does not even sit at home]
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |