UPDATE5: Court arrests PIK former Vice President Lefel for fraud

(Adds paragraphs 5–7)

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (PRIME) -- The Tverskoi District Court of Moscow has put Alexander Lefel, former vice president of Russian real estate developer PIK Group and director for regional development of developer Samolet Group, into custody until December 7 under a case of a large-scale fraud, a spokesperson for the court told PRIME on Friday.

“The court has approved a request of the investigation, and it has chosen a pre-trial detention measure for Lefel in the form of placement into custody until December 7, 2021,” the spokesperson said.

He was charged with a large-scale theft of money from PIK, the spokesperson added.

Lefel could face up to 10 years in prison if he found guilty of a large-scale fraud.

Alexei Belousov, Lefel’s lawyer, told PRIME that Lefel pled not guilty.

“The charges are groundless, farfetched, and unsubstantiated. I can safely say that the investigation will have a tough time trying to prove guilt. We knew about this situation two years ago, and nobody was talking about theft. I can say that the goal of this case is to put the blame on a ‘suitable’ man and cover up their crime,” he said.

His client was involved in economic issues, so it was illegal to put him under custody in direct contradiction to President Vladimir Putin’s position that businessmen cannot be put into pre-trial detention centers. The defense will challenge the court’s decision, and the investigation will prove nothing, Belousov said.

A PIK Group spokesperson told PRIME that the investigation against Lefel, who was fired from PIK in April 2019, was launched on company request. PIK evaluated the financial damage inflicted by Lefel on the company at 100 million rubles.

“Security officers of the company discovered facts of abuse of power by Lefel in 2017–2018 during tendering procedures and signing of contracts with a subcontractor for construction of residential estate in St. Petersburg,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company discovered fraudulent spending of the company’s money and of money of housing equity holders.

A Samolet Group spokesperson told PRIME that the charges against Lefel were not connected to his work as the company’s vice president.

A market source told PRIME that Lefel worked in his own business after leaving PIK Group.

(72.2854 rubles – U.S. $1)

End