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Head of H&S Management GmbH arrested in absentia in Moscow over fraud case

A German citizen Andrei V. Gardt accused of fraud committed on a large scale has been put on the international wanted list

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Investigative authorities have put the head of the German company H&S Management GmbH Andrei Gardt accused of large-scale fraud on the international wanted list. Gardt has been arrested by the court in absentia in Moscow, a source in law enforcement bodies told TASS.

"A German citizen Andrei V. Gardt accused of the crime under part 4 article 159 of Russia’s Criminal Code (fraud committed on a large scale) has been put on the international wanted list. One of the capital’s courts has arrested him in absentia on the investigation’s request," the source said.

A representative of Moscow’s Basmanny Court told TASS that the measure of restriction against the German citizen Gardt had been selected for two months from the moment of his detention on Russian territory or extradition of the businessman.

According to the investigation, Gardt is a defendant in the criminal case on stealing 1.7 mln euro allocated for purchasing furniture for a Russian mansion in Paris. The case was initiated in October 2019. The investigators believe that in late 2011 ex-head of the main directorate of international cooperation of the Department of Presidential Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Bolkhovitin [dead - TASS], ex-deputy director-general of the federal state unitary enterprise Goszagransobstvennost [agency managing residential and non-residential state-owned real estate property abroad] of the Department of Presidential Affairs of the Russian Federation Olga Nega and Andrei Gardt "entered into a criminal conspiracy with the purpose of gaining possession of the funds raised from the sale of the Russian property in Finland."

Investigators revealed that 1.7 mln euro were transferred to Gardt’s company to buy furniture and office appliances for a Russian piece of property located in Paris. Meanwhile, Nega provided an oral instruction to subordinates to document a note that the procurement for the Paris mansion was pursued, whereas Bolkhovitin deceived Vladimir Kozhin, who was head of the Department of Presidential Affairs then, obtaining consent from him to conclude a contract with H&S Management GmbH. As a result, furniture was never supplied, due to which a criminal case was initiated on the fact of large-scale fraud.