The Privolzhsky District Court of the Ivanovo region transferred the property and assets of the former mayor of Ples, Alexey Shevtsov* to the state's income following a lawsuit by the Prosecutor General's Office, TASS reported.
The agency claims that from 2005 to 2015, Shevtsov registered more than a hundred properties, specifically more than two-thirds of the city's real estate, in the names of his relatives, with a value estimated at over 1 billion rubles.
The Prosecutor's Office believes that during this period, Shevtsov engaged in illegal entrepreneurial activities, and his patronage over controlled organizations allowed him to monopolize the real estate, hotel services, and public catering markets in Ples
Shevtsov disagreed with the accusations. "This is a rare case: an owner of tens of millions of dollars decides to invest everything in huts and the development of local catering. A phenomenal outcome: instead of an award and an honorary certificate in pre-retirement age, to receive a rude speech from the prosecutor," he is quoted by 'Caution, news'.
As noted by Shevtsov's representative, the session, which began the day before, lasted more than 12 hours. Despite the night time, the court repeatedly refused to postpone the session, a total of 15 petitions were denied.
On October 10, the Ministry of Justice included Alexey Shevtsov in the register of 'foreign agents', the agency reported that he 'discredited' the Russian authorities and 'created a negative image' of law enforcement agencies.
* Recognized as a 'foreign agent' in Russia.