MOSCOW, September 25 (Itar-Tass) — The department of the Investigative Committee /SK/ for the Ural Federal District completed the probe into the criminal case against deputy mayor of Yekaterinburg Viktor Konteyev accused of masterminding a double murder. He was also charged with taking a large bribe, extortion and money laundering. Konteyev's 16 suspected accomplices are defendants in the case, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.
Viktor Konteyev, 58, was detained in August 2011. The investigators charged him with masterminding the murder of two business persons, Andrei Volkov and Valery Khudyakov, who had hindered the supplies of products to a food store through the Petukhovsky customs post. On August 23, 2011, the Verkh-Isetsky court of Yekaterinburg sanctioned custody of Konteyev. He was later charged with taking a five-million-rouble bribe.
"Konteyev, together with his wife Larisa and his associates demanded that director of food store # 4 Tatyana Rusina and her daughter Yelena Rusina transfer to him the rights to their stakes in the authorized capital of the company, whose market value reached 150 million roubles," the spokesman said.
In 2010-2011, Konteyev, together with his wife and associates, legalized the food store property thorough transactions both with company stakes and property /large real estate facilities in Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk region/. These include the Belka-Market and Zavokzalny shopping malls, a store in central Yekaterinburg on an area of over 45,000 square meters, and a recreation center in suburban Yekaterinburg. The aggregate price of these facilities reaches some one billion roubles as of today.
"Taking part in the investigation were agents of the regional department of the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry's main department for the Ural Federal District. "The injured parties, and the defendants and their lawyers have been notified about completion of the investigation into the criminal case. The case materials will be forwarded to them in the nearest future," he said.
Earlier, the SK said the investigators probing Konteyev's case had come under pressure. The official's lawyers, through the mass media, are trying to present Konteyev as "a prisoner of conscience," who suffered from the actions of the authorities seeking to get rid of him by any method, Markin told Tass.
"The mass media speculate on the inexpediency of placing the official under arrest and on Konteyev's being framed at someone's order. Some public figures, officials and journalists point out at Konteyev's administrative talents which Yekaterinburg allegedly needs, and call for releasing him from custody. Some repeatedly voiced the opinion about his considerable role in investigating the criminal case against former and incumbent Sverdlovsk region police officials," the spokesman said.