MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. The Moscow garrison military court has convicted former chief of the Russian Army’s Main Communications Department, deputy head of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin, to seven years in prison in a grand bribery case.
He is also prohibited from holding public office for seven years and stripped from his military rank. The court decided against imposing a monetary fine.
During debates, a state prosecutor was requesting a 12-year sentence as a punishment as well as a fine of 107 million rubles (about $1.3 mln).
According to the court’s decision, about 36 mln rubles will be seized from Shamarin while his confiscated property will remain under arrest until the verdict comes into effect.
Shamarin’s defense said that it agrees with the verdict and is not going to appeal.
"We agree with the verdict, we are not going to appeal it," Shamarin’s attorney Vladimir Shelupakhin told TASS.
The lawyer said that his client is ready to participate in Russia’s special military operation, being stripped of the rank of lieutenant general.
"We will continue to strive for our petition to join the special military operation to be approved. If granted, Vadim Shamarin will enlist as a regular serviceman," the attorney said.
Shamarin was found guilty of accepting substantial bribes while fulfilling a state procurement order (Part 6, Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code). His criminal case in court was held in a special hearing because of the defendant’s guilty plea.
Military investigators have established that in 2019-2023, the Russian Defense Ministry, within the framework of the state procurement order, concluded contracts with the Telta phone manufacturing factory in the Russian city of Perm to deliver communication devices worth more than 1.4 billion rubles. During this period, Shamarin received bribes to the tune of 36 million rubles from Telta officials for exaggerating the volumes and cost of products received.