News

Contractor slapped on wrist for bilking millions out of Ozersk with phony building permits

Publish date: May 2, 2008

MOSCOW - The court of the closed nuclear city of Ozersk issued a guilty verdict against a contractor used phony building contracts to completed several projects for the city - and was sentenced to pay less than one percent of the amount he bilked out of the city’s coffers as punishment.

Sergei Chubar, the former director of the Plant contracting firm, was found guilty of concluding three contracts for the health center at the Mayak Chemical Combine in Ozersk using false building permits, and getting paid 12 million roubles ($430,000) to do the job, the UralPolit.ru news site reported.

The projects were completed between 2003 and 2005.

Chubar issued a complete confession after the evidence against him was reviewed.

He was then sentenced by the Ozersk city court to pay a 100,000 rouble ($1,300) fine for violating point B of the second paragraph of article 171 of the Russian criminal code, which punishes illegal entrepreneurship in conjunction with the acquisition of especially large sums of money.

Chubar, who was the subject of a nationwide manhunt had tried to distance himself from the scene of his criminal activities by moving to another city, where he secured highly paid work at a metallurgical facility.

He was detained in December 2007 at the Koltsovo airport and remained in remand custody before and during his trial.