Romodanovsky Sergei

Biography

2025: The prosecution requested 25 years in prison for former Investigative Committee investigators, including Sergei Romodanovsky, in the Merlion case

On December 8, 2025, it became known that the prosecutor's office during a meeting in the 235th Garrison Military Court in Moscow requested up to 25 years in prison for former law enforcement officers involved in a criminal case on falsification of prosecution against the management of Merlion.

According to the Vedomosti newspaper, former Investigative Committee investigators Sergei Romodanovsky, Rustam Yusupov and Andrei Zhiryutin, FSB operatives in Moscow and the Moscow region Pavel Krylov and Alexander Bibishev, as well as lawyer Vadim Lyalin are in the dock. In the case, we are talking about an organized criminal community, whose members extorted money from Merlion owners Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov and Alexei Abramov.

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Фото: VK group "235 garrison military court"

According to investigators, in 2019, another former Investigative Committee investigator Kirill Kachur (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) and his father created a criminal community. According to the plan of the attackers, the former CEO of Merlion Vyacheslav Simonenko filed a false denunciation about the arson of his house with law enforcement agencies. On this basis, co-owners of Merlion Karchev, Mangutov, Abramov and top manager of the company Boris Levin were arrested, and the attackers began to extort money from them. However, the criminal scheme was uncovered.

The defendants, depending on their role and participation, were charged with committing crimes under Art. 210 of the Criminal Code (participation in an organized criminal community using their official position), Art. 30 of the Criminal Code, part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (attempted bribe taking on an especially large scale), Art. 303 of the Criminal Code (falsification of evidence and results of operational-search activities) and Art. 285 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power). The prosecutor requested 25 years in prison for Yusupov and Romodanovsky, 23 years for Zhiryutin, 20 years for Bibishev, 18 years for Krylov and Lyalin. The defense declined to comment, noting only that it would insist on the innocence of the defendants. The trial is being held behind closed doors.^[1]

2026: Sentence - 19 years in prison in Merlion case

235 garrison military court sentenced in a criminal case against ex-employees Investigative Committee Russia FSB and in the case of illegal criminal prosecution and arrest of co-owners - IT distributor. Merlion This was announced on January 26, 2026. Attorney General's Office RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The investigation was conducted against the former head of the Khoroshevsky interdistrict investigation department of the Investigative Department for the North-Western Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow Rustam Yusupov, employees of the Investigative Directorate for the North-Western Administrative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Moscow Sergei Romodanovsky, Andrei Zhiryutin, employees of the FSB of Russia in Moscow and the Moscow region Alexander Bibishev and Pavel Krylov, as well as lawyer Vadim Lyalin Lyalin. It was established that the listed employees of law enforcement agencies falsified evidence and materials of operational activities. On their basis, in February and September 2020, criminal cases were initiated on grave and especially grave crimes against innocent persons - three shareholders and a top manager of Merlion LLC. Members of the criminal community through Lyalin demanded a bribe of 15 billion rubles from the victims to end the criminal prosecution.

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Фото: iStock

Depending on the role and degree of participation, they were found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code (participation in a criminal community), part 3 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of office), part 3 of Art. 30 part 6 Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (attempted bribe), part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code (taking a bribe), part 2 of Art. 299 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (bringing a knowingly innocent person to criminal responsibility and illegally initiating a criminal case), part 3 of Art. 301 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal detention, detention and detention), h. 3, 4 Art. 303 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (falsification of evidence and results of operational-search activities), part 2 of Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberately false testimony).

In accordance with the court order, Romodanovsky was sentenced to 19 years, Yusupov - to 18 years, Zhiryutin - to 17 years, Bibishev - to 16 years 3 months, Krylov - to 16 years, Lyalin - to 14 years in prison in a maximum security penal colony. They are deprived of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.^[2]

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