Simonenko Vyacheslav Anatolyevich

Simonenko Vyacheslav Anatolyevich

Biography

At the end of MIPT in 1997, Vyacheslav Simonenko began his career in the structure, which after a number of mergers became known as the Merlion Group of Companies. He served as Citilink's development director .

1998: CEO of Denikin

In 1998, he became CEO of Denikin, and in 1999-2001, director of procurement for the Citilink group of companies.

After the merger of the Citilink group and Lizard, Simonenko was appointed procurement director of the combined LC-group. In 2001, he became the commercial director of LC-group and continued in this position and after its renaming as Merlion in 2004.

2005: Merlion System Solutions Chapter

Since July 2005, Vyacheslav Simonenko headed Merlion System Solutions.

2007: Merlion CEO

In 2007, Simonenko was appointed CEO of Merlion, and headed the company for six years - until March 2013, when Sergey Raskolov replaced him in this post .

On March 6, 2013, Merlion announced in connection with the personnel reshuffle that the company's shareholders "most highly assess the results of the work" of Vyacheslav Simonenko, and promised that in the near future they would announce the new appointment of Simonenko as manager of one of Merlion's independent projects and strategic tasks facing the project and its new leader.

2013: Tegrus System Integrator Chapter

In June 2013, Simonenko headed the system integrator Merlion Projects, later renamed Tegrus. In 2015, Tegrus, according to the Kontur. Focus database, was appointed a new general director - Valery Shchukin.

2015: CEO of Alager

Simonenko since April 2015, according to "Kontur. Focus," is the general director of the distribution company Alager. He also owns 20% of this company. The remaining 80% since August 2015 belonged to 1C.

In January 2020, Vyacheslav Simonenko talked about the prerequisites for the development of his own business:

When success was achieved on the manager's path in a large company, I had a desire to try myself as an independent entrepreneur. This was the reason for the voluntary resignation from the post of General Director of the Merlion Group of Companies in 2013, and from 2013 to 2015 it became a kind of test for me as a managing partner of the system integration business. The desire to start its history as an entrepreneur gradually developed - and the startup "Alager," a joint venture with "1C"[1] arose: the [2].

Separately, he noted the positive role of "1C" in the history of the creation and survival of the startup at the very beginning. 1C has accumulated rich experience in supporting such joint ventures in different areas of the IT industry, and in fact it is 1C that, according to Simonenko, is one of the most effective business incubators in the country.

And, of course, my personal gratitude is to Boris Georgievich Nuraliev, who believed and supported the young business in its most difficult phase, at the start, in 2015, - noted Vyacheslav Simonenko.

In 2018, when it became clear that Alager would continue to deeply engage in the direction of photo and video recording cameras, 1C decided to withdraw from the founders, and Simonenko bought their share.

2021

Statement of conflict with co-owners of Merlion

In January 2021, TAdviser became known that Vyacheslav Simonenko is a victim in the case in which the co-owners of Merlion were arrested in 2020. His name appeared in the ruling of the appellate instance, published on the official portal of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, following an open meeting in the Moscow City Court in December. Read more here.

Information about the attack on the house of the former general director of Merlion Vyacheslav Simonenko is connected with his conflict with the co-owners of the company, the newspaper wrote Kommersant with reference to Simonenko himself and the materials of the investigation on January 20, 2021^[3]The fact that the situation with the criminal case, in which the co-owners of Merlion appear, and Alexey Abramov, Oleg Karchev Vladislav Mangutov as well as the criminal case with them, Boris Levin may be related to the conflict between them and Simonenko, TAdviser previously also mentioned a source close to the company when TAdviser found out that it is Simonenko who passes the victim in this criminal case (more). here

The newspaper writes that Simonenko sought from the co-owners a payment of $4.5 million, which was obtained from the sale of shares in the Merlion company, Tegrus but they did not want to pay, because they allegedly suspected the former top manager of embezzlement.

After Simonenko left the post of CEO of Merlion in 2013, he was appointed head of a new division - Merlion Project (later renamed Tegrus), which became an independent integrator in the Merlion group of companies. Simonenko claims that he managed to increase the company's turnover by 60%, but in January 2015, the founders of Merlion summoned him to their place and said that "we must disperse." Simonenko did not rule out that the shareholders "decided to return Tegrus's business to Merlion," for which they concluded that he should sell his stake in Tegrus to other shareholders, but the way it was done categorically did not suit him.

Vyacheslav Simonenko

The businessman told Kommersant that during his 17-year career at Merlion, about $5 million was accumulated, which he kept in the company's accounts, so Simonenko wanted to be returned money and assets for this amount. But in the end, Simonenko claims, the situation turned out so that he received less than at least $4.5 million.

According to him, in 2015 he tried to discuss the current situation with the co-owners of the company, but they allegedly stated that Simonenko himself stole large sums from Merlion. The former CEO of Merlion claims that at the beginning of the dialogue with him, the shareholders confirmed that they owed the money. The businessman also told the newspaper: "Only later did I find out that they received from Boris Levin (a top manager of the company who was responsible for security) extracts from some foreign accounts that allegedly belonged to me. But I replied that I was ready with Merlion's lawyers to visit these banks to make sure that no accounts existed. "

Such explanations of the co-owners of Merlion, apparently, did not suit, which led to a further conflict. Simonenko told the newspaper that he did not sue them, as he feared for the safety of himself and his family.

Later, Simonenko's house, located near Krasnogorsk near Moscow, was attacked, he claims. The businessman believes that his family was very lucky, since his wife and two young daughters spent the night not in the old house where the arson was committed, but in the new one located on the same site.

The brother, who spent the night in the old house, said that on the night of September 5, 2015, at about 03:00 Moscow time, the glass of one of the windows broke and a Molotov cocktail flew into the room. Another bottle hit the wall of the house, which immediately caught fire, but the fire was extinguished and there were no casualties.

After the incident, Simonenko wrote statements to the police, the Investigative Committee and the Krasnogorsk prosecutor's office. According to him, they did not initiate a criminal case then.

In June 2019, I again filed an application for arson and an assassination attempt in 2015 at the Krasnogorsk department of the TFR, where it was accepted and began to be checked, but it ended with the fact that a couple of months later I was attacked at the Zagorodny Okhod restaurant in Odintsovo near Moscow, - said Simonenko.

According to him, he was attacked by two, but he was able to fight back. From the article "Kommersant" it follows that the submission of Simonenko's statement about the attack to the department of the TFR in Odintsovo did not lead to the desired results.

As a result, a criminal case on the attack in 2015 was initiated only in February 2020. At the same time, by decree of the President of Russia, Alexander Sarafanov, deputy head of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region, was removed. Simonenko complained about him in the fall of 2019 to the chairman of the TFR, Alexander Bastrykin.

According to Simonenko, one of the motives for the attempt on him was that he owned confidential information about the alleged shadow business of Merlion shareholders.

The last time the Khoroshevsky court of Moscow extended the arrest of the accused in this case until February 6, 2021. According to Simonenko, one of the key witnesses in the case - the former top manager of the Merlion company Yevgeny Savelyev - has repeatedly received threatening calls and demands to change his testimony. On January 16, Savelyev disappeared, does not get in touch, and operatives are looking for him, says Simonenko.

Also, according to Simonenko, on January 13, he met with a representative of the accused at the initiative of the latter, who said that they could soon change the measure of restraint. After that, the "solver," according to Simonenko, offered him $10 million for changing the testimony and "loyalty in the case," but he refused.

The lawyers of the co-owners of Merlion have not yet developed a common position, Kommersant writes, and their clients deny their involvement in the attacks on Simonenko. At the same time, they confirm to the newspaper that the conflict with the former top manager is connected with the payment of money for leaving the company. Vladislav Mangutov's lawyer Vadim Lyalin expressed confidence to Kommersant that at least two of the four accused "definitely cannot be involved in a crime," the name means Mangutov and Abramov.

I am sure that in the actions of these defendants, the investigation will not be able to find either intent or confirmation of their participation in a conspiracy to kill, the Kommersant newspaper quoted the defender as saying.

"Merlion" responded to the statements of Vyacheslav Simonenko

Merlion, having studied Vyacheslav Simonenko's version of the events that preceded the attack on his house (see here), told TAdviser on January 21 that he really led Merlion from 2007 to 2013 and Merlion Projects (later renamed Tegrus) from 2013 to 2015.

Vyacheslav left Tegrus of his own free will. The dismissal took place in compliance with all provisions of labor legislation and internal regulations. The former employee did not file any complaints or appeals with the relevant services of the company or the labor inspectorate. There are no debts from the company to Vyacheslav Simonenko, all payments were made in accordance with labor legislation, the Merlion press service said in comments.

Merlion does not have information on what kind of confidential information Simonenko could have had and whether there was a conflict between him and the co-owners, the company added.

And Tegrus said that within the framework of the organizational and legal form, companies were not issued and could not issue shares, as indicated in the article of the Kommersant publication^[4].

In addition, the company does not know anything about the existence of a "shadow" business of co-owners, and the very fact of such a baseless statement raises doubts about the correctness of the statements and true intentions of the interviewee, - said TAdviser in Merlion.

2022

Arrest of Vyacheslav Simonenko

On February 21, 2022, at the request of the investigation, the Basmanny Court of Moscow considered the case of the detention of the former general director of Merlion Vyacheslav Simonenko, about the attempt on which a criminal case was initiated in 2020. He was elected a preventive measure until April 17, a representative of the Basmanny Court told TAdviser.

The detention of Simonenko on suspicion of false denunciation and falsification of evidence became known the day before, the Telegram channel Cheka-OGPU reported. The message was confirmed by the data contained in the database of Moscow courts. In the case with which the detention of the ex-general director of Merlion is connected, Art. 307, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false testimony connected with the accusation of a person of committing a serious or especially serious crime), Art. 306, part 3 (knowingly false denunciation with artificial creation of evidence of the accusation); Art. 303, part 3 (falsification of evidence and the results of operational-search activities in a criminal case of a grave or especially grave crime).

The maximum punishment provided for by these parts of the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is up to 5 years, 6 years and 7 years in prison, respectively.

Earlier, all the defendants in the criminal case on the attempted murder of Simonenko - co-owners of Merlion Alexei Abramov, Vladislav Mangutov and Oleg Karchev, as well as Boris Levin - were released from jail and from house arrest. And in April 2021, their defense reported that it had sent statements of initiation of criminal cases against Simonenko, including part 3 of Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false denunciation accusing a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime).

In January 2022, the court arrested in absentia investigator Alexei Nesnov, who initially conducted a criminal case against the co-owners of Merlion. He was wanted.

The administrative case against V. Simonenko, whose consideration is scheduled for March 1, 2022, also appears in the database of Moscow courts. It is associated with Art. 20.2, part 5 (violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picket). Earlier in February, a photo of Vyacheslav Simonenko, standing at the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation with a poster in which he addresses the president in connection with the assassination attempt, was published in a number of media outlets.

Criminal case on attempted murder of ex-Merlion CEO closed

The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia terminated the criminal case against the co-owners of Merlion Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov, as well as against Boris Levin due to the absence of the event of the crimes he is charged with, i.e. on rehabilitating their grounds. This was announced on February 21, 2022 by TAdviser, a representative of the defense of co-owners Merlion. Read more here.

Appeal against detention decision

On February 28, 2022, former Merlion CEO Vyacheslav Simonenko appealed against the decision of the Basmanny Court of Moscow to be detained until April 17, 2022. Information about this appeared on the court's website. The Basmanny Court of TAdviser reported that the date for the consideration of the appeal has not yet been set.

On February 21, 2022, the Basmanny Court ruled to detain Vyacheslav Simonenko, he is accused of false denunciation and falsification of evidence, bringing charges under Art. 306, h 3; Art. 303, part 3 and Art. 307, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in accordance with which he faces up to 7 years in prison.

Attempt to leave the pre-trial detention center

Vyacheslav Simonenko, who was arrested in February on suspicion of false denunciation and falsification of evidence against the co-owners of Merlion, does not abandon attempts to appeal the court's decision to detain him as a preventive measure during the investigation. According to the file cabinet of the courts of Moscow, on May 25, 2022, the next appeal against the preventive measure chosen by him should be considered.

From the decision of the Basmanny Court on the extension of the term of detention in the Simonenko pre-trial detention center of April 15, it follows that he was ordered to be in the pre-trial detention center until July 17. A similar period has been established for Grigory Zherenov, who is passing with him in the same case. According to the Kommersant newspaper, Zherenov is a war invalid, a member of the 15th brigade of the People's Militia of the DPR. In 2020, he testified that in the fall of 2015, together with a comrade-in-arms, allegedly by order of the top manager of Merlion, he threw Molotov cocktails at Vyacheslav Simonenko's house in Krasnogorsk.^[5]

The impersonal decision of the Basmanny Court on the extension of the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center Simonenko and Zherenov of April 15 mentions that one of them is disabled. His lawyer asked him to choose a different preventive measure, not related to detention, in the form of house arrest or prohibition of certain actions. The court, however, notes that there is no evidence of the impossibility of keeping both in the conditions of the remand prison, including for health reasons, in the materials presented.

The court believes that Simonenko and Zherenov, taking into account the severity of the charge and the possibility of sentencing in the form of imprisonment for a long period, can hide from the preliminary investigation and trial in order to avoid criminal punishment. In addition, they "may coordinate with accomplices in the crime, continue to engage in criminal activities, threaten witnesses who give damning testimony, or other participants in criminal proceedings, create false evidence of their innocence, and otherwise obstruct criminal proceedings."

The same resolution states that since the election of a preventive measure in the form of detention in a criminal case, 14 handwriting forensic examinations have been appointed, four people were recognized as victims, and they were interrogated in this status, two suspects were put on the wanted list, 6 interrogations of witnesses, 7 inspections of objects and documents were carried out, as well as other investigative and procedural actions^[6].

The investigation has been extended until November. New details appeared in it

On July 13, 2022, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow extended the term of detention to eight months, i.e. until October 18, 2022, Vyacheslav Simonenko and Grigory Zherenov. Both of them are involved in a criminal case on falsification of evidence of charges of attempted murder of Simonenko, in which Merlion co-owners Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov and top manager Boris Levin have been under criminal prosecution for a year and a half.

The term of the preliminary investigation into the falsification of evidence has been extended until November 16, 2022, G. Pospelov, a lawyer for the co-owners of Merlion, told TAdviser.

According to a lawyer who was present at the courts to extend the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center Simonenko and Zherenov, the latter confessed to the investigation and fully confirmed that he had committed a deliberately false denunciation and participated in falsification of evidence for selfish reasons. Zherenov did not take part in the arson, whether this arson was at all, he does not know, says Pospelov.

In the case against the co-owners of Merlion and Boris Levin, Zherenov was previously declared as the executor of the attempted murder of Simonenko by setting fire to his house. According to the lawyer Pospelov, having committed a false denunciation and given false testimony in the case, Zherenov acted as part of an organized criminal group.

The members of the criminal group, including Zherenov personally, falsified the evidence of the prosecution, on the basis of which the victims were involved for a year and a half as accused of attempted murder of a particularly serious crime, - said the lawyer.

Extension of detention

The Basmanny Court, at the request of the investigation, extended the term of detention until January 18, 2023 to Vyacheslav Simonenko and Grigory Zherenov, who is being held with him in the same criminal case. This follows from a court ruling published in the file of Moscow courts. ^[7].

On October 18, 2022, this decree entered into force. On the same day, the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center, previously appointed by Simonenko and Zherenov, was to end, where they were placed during the investigation in the case.

Simonenko was arrested in February 2022. Thus, if it is not possible to leave the pre-trial detention center ahead of the new established period, he will spend almost a year in custody pending the completion of the investigation.

In the petition to extend the term of detention of the accused in the pre-trial detention center, the representative of the investigation noted that it is not possible to complete the investigation by October 18, since the case still needs to be additionally interrogated, to present one of them with a final charge, to receive answers to previously sent requests and instructions. It is also required to complete inspections of seized items and documents, information about connections between subscribers of interest to the investigation and subscriber devices and perform other investigative and procedural actions, which will be necessary.

Inspections of information about connections between subscribers of interest and subscriber devices, in particular, have not been completed, since cellular operators did not fully provide the specified information.

In addition, the criminal case continues to carry out operational-search measures aimed at establishing the whereabouts of two more defendants, whose names are not given in the resolution, and other persons involved in the commission of the above crimes, as well as "other episodes of criminal activity."

The completion of the investigation in the case is expected until February 16, 2023.

From the decision of the judge of the Basmanny Court it follows that the lawyers of Vyacheslav Simonenko and Grigory Zherenov do not agree with the preventive measure chosen by their client. Among their arguments in favor of mitigating it - for example, house arrest or banning certain actions - the defense brings the state of health of the accused.

At the same time, one of them, Zherenov, cooperates with the investigation, confessed.

The court, however, after hearing the arguments of all parties, came to the conclusion that, being at large and realizing the severity of the possible imposition of punishment for the alleged acts, the accused could hide from the preliminary investigation and trial and otherwise obstruct the investigation in the criminal case. In this regard, it was decided to extend the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center.

2023

New articles of the Criminal Code in the case and the extension of the period of detention

On February 14, 2023, the Moscow City Court extended the term of detention of Vyacheslav Simonenko for another 2 months and 24 days, i.e. until May 12. Thus, he will spend more than a year in jail while the investigation continues. The representative of the investigation petitioned to extend the preventive measure in court with the consent of the chairman of the RFAlexander Bastrykin.

Detained on February 18, 2022, Simonenko is accused of committing crimes under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And the victims in this case, we recall, are co-owners of the IT company Merlion Oleg Karchev, Alexey Abramov, Vladislav Mangutov and their former chief "security officer" Boris Levin. All four were previously accused of attempted murder of Simonenko, but in February 2022 the criminal case against them was terminated due to the absence of the event of the crimes he was charged with.

At an open court hearing on the extension of Simonenko's detention on February 14, 2023, a TAdviser correspondent was present. He reports that Simonenko was brought to court personally to participate. At the meeting, the accused was sitting in a "cage." On his part, his wife and lawyer were present in the hall. On the part of the prosecution - representatives of the investigation and the prosecutor's office. And the interests of the victims of the "Merlion" and Boris Levin were represented by lawyer Georgy Pospelov.

On February 14, 2023, the Moscow City Court extended the detention of Vyacheslav Simonenko "(photo - Valery Sharifulin/TASS)"

At the time of his arrest in 2022, Simonenko was accused under three articles: Part 2 of Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false testimony combined with a person's accusation of committing a grave or especially grave crime), part 3 of Art. 306, (knowingly false denunciation with artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution) and part 3 of Art. 303, (falsification of evidence and results of operational-search activities in a criminal case of a grave or especially grave crime).

However, now the charges have become heavier: Art. 210 (participation in a criminal organization), Art. 30 and Art. 290 (attempted crime - taking a bribe), Art. 33 (complicity in a crime)^[8].

In the justification of the investigation's petition to extend Simonenko's term in the pre-trial detention center, it is indicated that the case in which he is being held was separated into a separate proceeding in August 2022 against a number of identified persons hiding from the preliminary investigation authorities and unidentified persons. With this case, there are also several criminal cases under Art. 290, 159, 301, 303, 299, 307, 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Details of how the identified criminal group was connected with the case of Merlion co-owners were not officially disclosed at a court hearing on February 14 or elsewhere. At the end of 2022 and January 2023, the Kommersant newspaper wrote about a scenario in which we are talking about organizing a criminal community, falsifying a criminal case against Merlion co-owners and demanding large sums of money from them to stop criminal prosecution.

At the same time, back in 2021, on the part of the co-owners of Merlion, a statement was sent to law enforcement agencies to initiate a criminal case against Simonenko, including under paragraph "b" of Part 3 of Art. 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extortion in order to obtain property on an especially large scale), but in the current Simonenko case, such an article does not appear. Later, the version of the attempted raider seizure of the company was also voiced on their part. The demand for money for the termination of criminal prosecution, in particular, was not discussed then.

The investigation believes that Simonenko was involved in a criminal organization, and that his involvement in the commission of the crimes incriminated to him is confirmed by the testimony of a number of witnesses, victims and other materials of the criminal case. This was stated at a meeting on February 14.

The necessary investigative actions to this point have not been fully completed, it follows from the position of the investigation. For example, the conduct of a ballistic examination has not been completed, all persons involved in the commission of crimes have not been identified. Work remains to be done, including interviews of witnesses and defendants.

There is reason to believe that, being at large, Simonenko can hide from the preliminary investigation and trial, threaten victims and witnesses, the investigation believes. Therefore, the accused is asked to leave in the pre-trial detention center and not to let him go under house arrest or under the ban of certain actions. The latter, in particular, was asked by the court Vyacheslav Simonenko and his defense.

The investigation of this case is especially difficult, according to the petition of the investigation read by the judge. This is due, among other things, to the fact that there are many witnesses in the case, many seized items, documents, electronic media, a lot of information about the connections between subscribers and subscriber devices. At the same time, investigative actions are required to be carried out in different constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The representative of the investigation in court noted that some accomplices in this case are on the international wanted list, and operational-search measures are being carried out to establish new accomplices.

Materials on the case of the extension of the preventive measure Simonenko at the meeting were presented in three volumes, the judge said. Among the named defendants in the case are Moscow investigator Alexei Nesnov, who initially conducted the case against the co-owners of Merlion, and lawyer Kirill Kachur. Both of them in 2022 were arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list. Moreover, the creation of an organized group by Kachur and his search for the RF IC was publicly reported back in 2022, but at that time there was no connection between him and the case of the co-owners of Merlion^[9].

Another surname that sounded at the meeting on February 14 is Kireev. He was arrested by order of the Basmanny Court on December 28, 2022. The resolution, published in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, says that Alexander Kireev is the deputy head of the 8th department (service checks) of the personnel department of the RF IC^[10] in the^[11]. In his case also appear Art. 210, Art. 30 and Art. 290 of the Criminal Code.

Vyacheslav Simonenko himself said in court that he did not recognize the charges against him, did not understand what the charge under the new articles was based on, and also did not agree with the termination of the criminal case on the attempt on his life. This case must be resumed and further searched for the perpetrators, he is convinced: "there is a video, there is all the texture collected over the years."

Simonenko at the court session added that there was no reason to detain him in 2022, and he had served a year, and after that new articles "arrive": "it's normal to write a statement about a crime and get a term of one step from life imprisonment," he said.

Vyacheslav Simonenko also expressed bewilderment that he allegedly could escape if he was released from the pre-trial detention center. When it was already clear that the case was unfolding against him, at that time still in the status of the victim, he did not run away anywhere, even having a passport, he pointed to himself.

After I sat in a cell with a blind man who can also hide from the investigation, there is nothing to be surprised at, "Vyacheslav Simonenko said in court.

He assured that he was definitely not going to hide and was ready to cooperate with the investigation, "if someone asked me about anything, something that had not happened for a whole year." Vyacheslav Simonenko said that he is in prison, but no one "comes to him and does not ask."

In addition, Simonenko pointed out that during his detention, his physical condition deteriorated greatly, and that he needs outpatient treatment.

Be that as it may, the court granted the request of the investigation and decided to extend the detention of Vyacheslav Simonenko.

Recall that Grigory Zherenov is also involved in the same case with Simonenko. According to the Kommersant newspaper, in 2020 he testified that in the fall of 2015, together with a comrade, allegedly by order of a top manager of Merlion, he threw Molotov cocktails at Vyacheslav Simonenko's house in Krasnogorsk. They^[12]On December 29, 2022, the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow sentenced Grigory Zherenov to 2.5 years in prison in a general regime colony under the article on falsification of evidence (part 3 of article 303 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)^[13].

TAdviser continues to monitor the progress of the case.

Extension of detention until August

In May 2023, the Moscow City Court, at the request of the investigation, extended the term of detention of Vyacheslav Simonenko until August 12, i.e. up to 17 months of 25 days, almost up to one and a half years - the maximum possible period of detention of the accused in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. Simonenko's defense tried to appeal the decision to extend his detention in the First Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction, but the court left everything unchanged.

Information on the extension and appeal is contained in court file cabinets, and the representative of the lawyer of the victims specified the new term of Simonenko's detention in the TAdviser pre-trial detention center.

The victims in the case, we recall, are co-owners of the IT company Merlion Oleg Karchev, Alexey Abramov, Vladislav Mangutov and their former chief "security officer" Boris Levin. All four were previously accused of attempted murder of Simonenko, but in February 2022 the criminal case against them was terminated due to the absence of the event of the crimes he was charged with.

At the time of his arrest in 2022, Simonenko was charged with three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Part 2 of Art. 307 (knowingly false testimony connected with the accusation of a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime), part 3 of Art. 306, (knowingly false denunciation with the artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution) and part 3 of Art. 303, (falsification of evidence and results of operational-search activities in a criminal case of a grave or especially grave crime). But at the beginning of 2023, the charges were aggravated: Art. 210 (participation in a criminal organization), Art. 30 and Art. 290 (attempted crime - taking a bribe), Art. 33 (complicity in a crime)^[14].

The investigation believes that Simonenko was involved in a criminal organization; a number of persons associated with it were noted in crimes against other entrepreneurs. In this regard, four criminal cases were combined into one proceeding, according to the representative of the lawyer of the co-owners of Merlion.

Among the names involved in these cases: former Moscow investigator Alexei Nesnov, who initially conducted the case against the co-owners of Merlion, lawyer Kirill Kachur (both fled from the investigation outside the Russian Federation), deputy head of the 8th department (service checks) of the personnel department of the RF IC Alexander Kireev and others.

The investigation of the criminal case against Vyacheslav Simonenko and Alexander Kireev seems to be nearing completion. According to the file cabinet of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, in May the Basmanny Court extended Kireev's detention until the same date as the Moscow City Court Simonenko - until August 12^[15]. The published resolution on this says that the term of the preliminary investigation has been extended until August 12, 2023.

Meanwhile, in early June 2023, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov, Alexey Abramov and Boris Levin were recognized as civil plaintiffs, a representative of their lawyer told TAdviser. In February 2023, they filed a civil lawsuit in a criminal case "in connection with causing them material damage and moral damage by the criminal actions of the accused and, to a large extent, directly by the actions of Vyacheslav Simonenko." The amount of moral damage caused is estimated at 20 million rubles (each 5 million rubles). Money collected to compensate for moral damage co-owners Merlion and Boris Levin plan to send to charity.

Criminal investigation completed

The investigation into the criminal case of Vyacheslav Simonenko is over, Georgy Pospelov, a lawyer for the co-owners of Merlion, told TAdviser on July 26, 2023.

Vyacheslav Simonenko and his defense get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case, after which it will be sent to the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia for approval of the indictment and its transfer to the court for consideration on the merits. The investigation of the criminal case against other accused - leaders and participants of the OPS continues, - said in a message received by TAdviser.

Simonenko, we recall, initially took place in the case under articles under three articles: Part 2 of Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (knowingly false testimony combined with a person's accusation of committing a grave or especially grave crime), part 3 of Art. 306, (knowingly false denunciation with artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution) and part 3 of Art. 303, (falsification of evidence and results of operational-search activities in a criminal case of a grave or especially grave crime). However, at the beginning of 2023, the charges were aggravated: Art. 210 (participation in a criminal organization), Art. 30 and Art. 290 (attempted crime - taking a bribe), Art. 33 (complicity in a crime). The investigation believes that Simonenko was involved in a criminal organization.

According to the lawyer of the co-owners of Merlion, the criminal case of Vyacheslav Simonenko in July 2023 was separated into a separate proceeding from the main case of the organized criminal community. The creation of the latter is associated with the name of lawyer Kirill Kachur: in 2022, the Investigative Committee of Russia charged him in absentia with creating an organized^[16].

Extension of the term in the pre-trial detention center. Familiarization with the case file

On August 10, 2023, the Moscow City Court granted the petition of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia to extend the term of detention of Vyacheslav Simonenko for three months, until November 12, 2023. The record of the corresponding court session is contained in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow.

The lawyer of the co-owners of Merlion Georgy Pospelov told TAdviser that on July 7, 2023, the criminal case against Simonenko was separated into a separate proceeding from the criminal case on the activities of an organized criminal community (criminal organization).

According to the lawyer, in connection with the large volume of the criminal case and the multiplicity of its episodes, a decision was made to separate the case against Simonenko in a separate proceeding and send it to the court for consideration on the merits, which will not affect the completeness and comprehensiveness of the investigation of the main criminal case.

As of August, Vyacheslav Simonenko gets acquainted with the materials of the criminal case. The term of detention was extended for this, as well as for drawing up an indictment and sending the case to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

Making a decision to extend the term of detention of Simonenko to 20 months 25 days, the Moscow City Court recognized the particular complexity of the investigation, the exclusivity of the case of extending the term of detention of the accused for more than 12 months and the evidence presented by the impossibility of electing him another, milder preventive measure, says Georgy Pospelov.

Sending a criminal case to the prosecutor's office, the risk of claims for 2.2 billion rubles

On October 19, 2023, the Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) sent a criminal case to the Prosecutor General's Office on an attempt to raider seizure of assets of the Merlion group of companies. As part of this trial, the former general director of the organization, Vyacheslav Simonenko, faces an impressive prison term and lawsuits totaling more than 2.2 billion rubles.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, Simonenko and his defense completed their acquaintance with the materials of the criminal case by signing the corresponding protocol. According to investigators, Simonenko was part of the criminal community that attempted the raider seizure of Merlion. According to the materials of the case, the solver Kirill Kachur, as well as the former senior inspector of the department of inspections of the personnel department of the TFR, formerly an employee of the FSB of Russia Alexander Kireev, participated in the implementation of the criminal plan; investigator of the department for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the North-Western District of Moscow Alexei Nesnov; Assistant Investigator of the Investigative Department of the TFR in Odintsovo Denis Nikolaev and other persons.

According to investigators, Simonenko tried to make a raider seizure of Merlion assets

Members of the criminal community, according to the investigation, organized the initiation of a criminal case in Moscow about an attempt on Simonenko allegedly committed in Krasnogorsk near Moscow by arson of his house. As part of the investigation, co-owners of the Merlion group of companies Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov, Alexei Abramov and top manager Boris Levin were detained and then arrested: bribes totaling 15 billion rubles were extorted from them, including for release. Later, all of them were released due to rehabilitating circumstances: on their behalf, a civil lawsuit was filed against members of the criminal community, including Simonenko, to recover 2 billion 200 million rubles to compensate for material harm. The victims demand another 20 million rubles as compensation for moral damage.

Employees of the Main Directorate for Supervision of the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Prosecutor General's Office will study the documents received as part of the proceedings. If the quality of the investigation suits supervision, First Deputy Prosecutor General Anatoly Razinkin will approve the charge and send the criminal case to court.^[17]

Vyacheslav Simonenko's criminal case brought to court

On October 30, 2023, the criminal case of Vyacheslav Simonenko of the year entered the Khoroshevsky District Court for consideration on the merits. An entry on the registration of the case appeared in the database of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow.

Simonenko in the database of courts is now listed in the status of a defendant, the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are indicated in his case: block_210 Art. 210, part 3 (organization of a criminal community or participation in it, using official position); block_307 Art. 307, part 2 (knowingly false testimony, conclusion of an expert, specialist or incorrect transfer, combined with an accusation of a person committing a grave or especially grave crime); block_290 Art. 290, part 6 (taking a bribe on an especially large scale); Art. 306, part 3 (deliberately false denunciation, combined with the artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution).

Since his arrest in February 2022, Simonenko has been held in custody as a preventive measure. His defense has repeatedly tried to mitigate the preventive measure, but to no avail.

The case against Vyacheslav Simonenko was isolated from the large investigation conducted by the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation against an organized group.

Earlier, Grigory Zherenov, the accused, also took place in the same case with Simonenko. According to the Kommersant newspaper, in 2020 he testified that in the fall of 2015, together with a comrade-in-arms, allegedly by order of a top manager of Merlion, he threw Molotov cocktails at Vyacheslav Simonenko's house in Krasnogorsk. On December 29, 2022, the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow sentenced Grigory Zherenov to 2.5 years in prison in a general regime colony under the article on falsification of evidence (part 3 of article 303 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, in July 2023, the Babushkinsky District Court considered the case of parole from imprisonment.

Extension of the pre-trial detention center until April 2024

By a resolution of the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow dated November 8, 2023, the term of detention in Vyacheslav Simonenko, who holds the post of general director of Alager, was extended. This was announced by the official Telegram channel of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow.

The court decided to extend Simonenko's detention until April 30, 2024.

Simonenko is a defendant in a criminal case under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to the database of courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow: block_210 Art. 210, part 3 (organization of a criminal community or participation in it, using official position); block_307 Art. 307, part 2 (knowingly false testimony, conclusion of an expert, specialist or incorrect transfer, combined with an accusation of a person committing a grave or especially grave crime); block_290 Art. 290, part 6 (taking a bribe on an especially large scale); Art. 306, part 3 (deliberately false denunciation, combined with the artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution).

In November, the consideration of this criminal case began in court.

2024

The prosecutor's office requested 24 years in a maximum security colony for Vyacheslav Simonenko

The prosecutor's office requested 24 years in a strict regime colony for the ex-head of Merlion Vyacheslav Simonenko. The press service of the Moscow City Court announced this on April 9, 2024. The announcement of the verdict is scheduled for April 15, 2024.

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Irina Buzhor/Kommersant

The former CEO of Merlion himself does not admit guilt, and the defense asks for his full acquittal. The victims in this case are Merlion co-founders Alexei Abramov, Oleg Karchev, Vladislav Mangutov and top manager Boris Levin, who were previously suspects when Simonenko accused them of organizing an assassination attempt on themselves. Initially, all four were arrested by the court, but later they were sent under house arrest, and after a while they were released from any preventive measure. Their criminal case was dismissed, and they themselves became victims. The defense of the accused insisted that they were the victim of a slander by Vyacheslav Simonenko.

According to Business FM in the Khoroshevsky Court of Moscow, in addition to 24 years in prison in a maximum security colony, the state prosecution requested compensation for victims of moral damage in the amount of 20 million rubles for Vyacheslav Simonenko. At the same time, the prosecutor proposed to leave the issue of compensation for property damage in the amount of 2 billion rubles without consideration.

At the end of February 2024, the security forces detained in the same case a former employee of the "M" department of the FSB (engaged in counterintelligence support and combating corruption), who is suspected of involvement in extorting money from the Merlion leadership.^[18]

The court sentenced the ex-head of Merlion to 22 years in prison

The Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow proclaimed a verdict against Vyacheslav Simonenko, the ex-head of Merlion.

According to information published on April 15, 2024 on the official portal of the courts of general jurisdiction of the city of Moscow, Vyacheslav Anatolyevich Simonenko was found guilty of committing crimes under: Part 6 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (bribe on an especially large scale), part 3 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code (organization of a criminal community), Art. 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberately false testimony, conclusion of an expert, specialist or incorrect translation), Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Knowingly false denunciation), part 3 of Art. 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (preparation for a crime and attempted crime) and part 5 of Art. 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Types of accomplices in a crime - special).

Vyacheslav Simonenko was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Photo by Dmitry Lebedev/Kommersant

On the basis of Part 3 of Art. 69 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, on the totality of crimes and by partial addition of punishments, the court decided to finally appoint Vyacheslav Simonenko a sentence of imprisonment for a period of 22 years, with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year and 6 months.

According to the investigation, Simonenko, acting as part of a criminal community, made a deliberately false denunciation of the commission of a crime, connected with the accusation of a person in the commission of a particularly serious crime, with the artificial creation of evidence of the accusation.

The court partially satisfied the civil claims of the victims.

Appeal to the court with a request to cancel the decision to deprive the status of the victim

As TAdviser found out, on May 20, 2024, Vyacheslav Simonenko, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in April, filed a complaint with the Basmanny Court of Moscow with a request to cancel the "illegal decision to deprive the status of the victim" of February 17, 2022.

According to the information in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, he also asks to give him the opportunity to familiarize himself with the materials of the criminal case in which he was held in the status of a victim in order to appeal the decision to terminate it. This criminal case, we recall, was also curtailed in February 2022. It was about the attempted murder of Simonenko. The case involved co-owners of the IT company Merlion Oleg Karchev, Alexey Abramov, Vladislav Mangutov and their former chief "security officer" Boris Levin, but as a result, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia terminated the criminal case against them in connection with the absence of the event of the crimes incriminated by him, i.e. on rehabilitating their grounds.

The Basmanny Court states that the arguments of the complaint filed by Simonenko on May 20 do not contain the necessary information to determine its subject, namely: there is no information about whose specific actions (inaction) are the subject of the complaint. In this regard, it was decided to return Simonenko his complaint to eliminate the shortcomings and explain to him the right to go to court again after that.

According to Art. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court may appeal against the decisions of the interrogator, investigator, head of the investigative body to refuse to initiate a criminal case, to terminate a criminal case, as well as other decisions and actions (inaction) of the interrogator, investigator, head of the investigative body and the prosecutor, which can cause damage to constitutional rights and freedoms of participants in criminal proceedings or complicate citizens' access to justice.

Earlier, at the end of April, Vyacheslav Simonenko also filed an appeal against the verdict. Its consideration has not yet taken place.

Consideration of appeals against the verdict

The Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Moscow City Court considered the appeals of lawyers against the verdict of the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow against Vyacheslav Anatolyevich Simonenko and upheld the verdict, the appeals were dismissed, the Telegram channel of the courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow said on September 24, 2024.

According to the investigation, which was presented by Kommersant, in 2019, businessman Vitaly Kachur and his son, a former employee of the Investigative Committee Kirill Kachur (recognized as a foreigner in Russia), created an organized criminal community in which Simonenko, senior inspector of the personnel department of the TFR Alexander Kireev and investigator Alexei Nesnov were involved. As part of the plan they developed, Simonenko allegedly filed a false denunciation about the arson of his house in Krasnogorsk. Kireev and Nesnov initiated the criminal prosecution of Karchev, Mangutov, Abramov and Levin "with the aim of illegally taking possession of their property." And when the co-owners of Merlion were in custody, they began to extort 5 billion rubles from each of them .

According to lawyer Valery Grigoriev, the investigating authorities did not prove the participation of Vyacheslav Simonenko in receiving a bribe, since during the alleged discussion of this issue by the OPS participants, his client was in the hospital with COVID-19, and after discharge he observed the prescribed isolation regime. The involvement of Vyacheslav Simonenko in the OPS, according to the lawyer, was not confirmed at all by the materials of the criminal case.

According to the sources of the publication, the alleged attackers continue to be identified and charged with not only an attempt to raider capture Merlion, but also other crimes.^[19]

Bringing to subsidiary liability for the debt of Alager to creditors for 438 million rubles

As TAdviser discovered in November 2024, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region, at the request of the bankruptcy trustee, determined to bring Vyacheslav Simonenko and Vladimir Chernogaev to subsidiary liability for the obligations of the bankrupt company "Alager" and recover funds from them in favor of Alager in the amount of about 438 million rubles^[20]

From the materials of the case published in the public domain in the Electronic Justice system, it follows that Alager was declared bankrupt back in February 2022. From the moment the company was established in 2015 until the date of its recognition as bankrupt, Vyacheslav Simonenko held the position of general director in it. Also, from the moment the company was established for some time in 2015 and further from September 2018 to April 2021, he was its sole owner. And he is currently a member of Alager with a 2% stake.

The indicated amount of about 438 million rubles, which is subsidized from Simonenko and Chernogaev, is the balance of outstanding claims included in the register of claims of Alager creditors as of the end of September 2024.

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Freepik

During the bankruptcy proceedings, the creditors' claims were partially satisfied, in the amount of about 66 million rubles.

The earlier definitions of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region in the framework of the Alager bankruptcy case invalidated the payments of large bonuses to the interested person - the former Alager general director Vyacheslav Simonenko, as well as two former Alager top managers. They were awarded to recover these funds to the bankruptcy estate. In the case of Simonenko, in particular, we are talking about about 97 million rubles.

In addition, the judicial acts that have already entered into force in the same case established a "gratuitous and unequal withdrawal of assets" by the debtor on the eve of his bankruptcy in the amount of about 428 million rubles in favor of the debtor's interested parties, according to the ruling of the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region of October 18, 2024.

All these gratuitous and unequal transactions in favor of persons associated with the debtor were made and approved on behalf of the debtor V.A. Simonenko or were made by him in his favor, the court states in the same document.

It follows from the Alager bankruptcy case card that after the ruling on bringing to subsidiary liability, Vyacheslav Simonenko and Vladimir Chernogaev filed appeals^[21].

The court published 60 pages of details of the case of Vyacheslav Simonenko

As TAdviser discovered in early December 2024, a copy of the appeal ruling of the judicial board for criminal cases of the Moscow City Court with a volume of almost 60 pages appeared in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow on the complaint against the verdict, which was issued to Vyacheslav Simonenko in April by the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow^[22]. The judicial press service previously reported on the outcome of the appeal - the verdict was upheld. And now some details of the appeals of Vyacheslav Simonenko, his lawyers and their consideration by the court have appeared, although details such as full names and amounts are cut out of a copy of the document in many places.

From the published definition it follows that the appeals were filed by two lawyers Vyacheslav Simonenko and one - himself, asked to make an acquittal against him.

One of the lawyers stated that the conclusions of the court of first instance did not correspond to the actual circumstances of the case, and that "significant violations of the criminal procedure law" were committed, and that the verdict "did not provide any evidence" confirming Vyacheslav Simonenko's awareness of the very existence of the criminal community, "as well as that the persons included in it had and used their official position."

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TG channel of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow

According to the defense, Vyacheslav Simonenko's guilt can be limited only to committing crimes against justice (part 2 of article 306 and part 2 of article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - false denunciation and deliberately false testimony), and only on condition that he was reliably aware that the co-owners of Merlion were not involved in the arson. But he did not know this, in fact, he was let down by "excessive suspicion" and confidence in "dear" lawyers who "gave advice on how and what to write and say," said another lawyer's appeal.

Even taking into account the fact of the termination of the criminal case against the victims (we are talking about the three co-owners of Merlion and the former "security officer" of the company Boris Levin - note TAdviser), the fact of Vyacheslav's bona fide delusion about the circumstances of the attack on him cannot be ruled out, the defense insisted.

Vyacheslav Simonenko himself in his appeal indicated that the verdict was decided on the basis of the data set out in the court records, in which there are "significant inconsistencies." He also stated that some sheets disappeared from the case file, but others were added there. Moreover, he even submitted applications to the Prosecutor General's Office and the FSB of the Russian Federation.

The ex-general director of Merlion continued to insist that he was allegedly attacked by throwing a Molotov cocktail into the house. The fact that the investigation considers the victims not involved does not in itself refute the commission of the assassination attempt, he said. During the trial, he filed a petition for an additional investigation with additional investigative actions aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the attack, but he was refused. Also, the complaints of the defense and Simonenko himself contained references to data on the corporate conflict between him and the co-owners of Merlion, which took place earlier.

In addition, in his complaint, Vyacheslav Simonenko said that "he was aware of the murder of the general director of Formoz Group of Companies under circumstances similar to his situation." It seems that here we are talking about the former vice-president of Formosa Oleg Fefelov, who was killed in 2004, at that time he was the general director of Cybertronic.

The judicial board of the Moscow City Court, however, found that the conclusion of the court of first instance about the guilt of Vyacheslav Simonenko in committing the crimes for which he was convicted corresponds to the actual circumstances established by the court, is confirmed by the totality of the evidence examined at the hearing. Among the latter, the appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court cites multiple testimonies of witnesses, four victims, data from inspection protocols, etc. The testimony, among other things, provides data on the person who acted in the "role of the arsonist" of Simonenko's house, and the "dress rehearsal of his role."

At the same time, in the appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court published in the database of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow, the full name of the persons in question is cut out in many places, so the full picture of the testimony does not look clear in the document.

The judicial collegium also noted that the numerous arguments of the defense about the unproven guilt of the convict on the charge actually boil down to the statement that there was an attempt on his life, and that he was not aware that money was demanded from the victims as a bribe.

This position of the convict is a legitimate way of defense, but was fully refuted in the framework of the judicial investigation by the evidence presented by the prosecution. The presented evidence established that the attempted murder of the name was not committed, which was confirmed by the decision to terminate the criminal case due to the absence of the crime event. The awareness of the name about the general criminal intent of the organized group is also confirmed by the case materials and the evidence examined, the appeal ruling says.

Having checked the materials of the criminal case, the judicial board found that the investigating authorities during the preliminary investigation and the court, when considering the case in court, did not allow any violations of the law that entail the cancellation of the sentence or could affect the decision of a legal, justified and fair court decision: "The case was investigated and considered comprehensively, fully and objectively."

And the arguments of the convicted person about falsifying the materials of the criminal case, the loss of some of the documents from it are objectively not confirmed by anything, are unfounded and, according to the judicial board, "are aimed at defaming the evidence base in the case in order to evade criminal liability."

As a result, the judicial board of the Moscow City Court upheld the verdict, and the appeals were dismissed.

Notes