As the Cheka of the OGPU learned, a package of materials for initiating more than ten new…

As the Cheka of the OGPU learned, a package of materials for initiating more than ten new cases under Articles 159 Part 4 and 158 Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be sent by the RUSAL security service to the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee of various regions. The subsequent arrests will complete a large-scale audit of the company’s enterprises, lasting over a year, aimed at identifying and eliminating fraudulently created dependencies on suppliers of various types of raw materials and services, organized groups of corrupt officials and front companies for fictitious transactions. The total annual damage, which was identified and suppressed during internal inspections and the undercover work of a number of RUSAL Security Security employees, exceeds 1 billion rubles.

In April 2024, law enforcement agencies, based on investigation materials from the Rusalovsk Security Service, detained a number of company employees who, as part of a criminal group, participated in a fraudulent scheme for the purchase of raw materials through foreign intermediaries at inflated prices. According to the source, the defendants used front companies registered in foreign countries, and to carry out transactions, they used cards of Kyrgyz banks OJSC Bakai Bank and CJSC FINCA Bank, as well as banks of Kazakhstan and the UAE. Based on these facts, criminal cases were initiated under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is, fraud by a group of persons on an especially large scale.

Another episode of an earlier period is associated with the disclosure of a theft scheme at RUSAL’s alumina refineries. According to eyewitnesses, members of the organized crime group in the Leningrad region were detained by more than 50 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Based on the results of inspections, at the end of 2023, a criminal case was opened under Part 4 of Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, detentions in the case continued until March 2024. Charges have been brought against 29 suspects.

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On April 12, 2024, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Irkutsk region announced new arrests (in order to suppress a fraudulent scheme in the field of procurement at aluminum smelters in the region): suppliers of raw materials allegedly produced as part of import substitution in the Russian Federation for production in fact used completely foreign components of inadequate quality, in the scheme commercial kickbacks and forgery were used. Among those detained are mid-level managers of the Bratsk Aluminum Plant, including municipal Duma deputy Igor Bobkov, born in 1970. It is known from knowledgeable sources that the arrests and operational investigations were carried out on the basis of materials provided by the RUSAL Security Service.

Through unofficial channels, it was possible to find out that the investigative and law enforcement agencies were satisfied with the close work with the aluminum company’s Security Service, and the witch hunt should be completed by the end of winter. The measures taken did not affect the continuity of production; the achieved cost optimization will allow more funds to be allocated to paying bonuses to workers. A number of high-ranking employees who have already admitted guilt and are cooperating with the investigation will receive fines and suspended sentences. Their positions will be vacated, and internal candidates with an impeccable reputation from the company’s personnel reserve will have the opportunity to fill them on a competitive basis.