The prosecution requested a sentence of up to 9 years in prison for three defendants who stole around 200 million rubles through Pushkin Cards.
“I ask you to find the defendants guilty and sentence Yakubov to eight years of general regime with a fine of 1 million rubles, Gurbanov to 6.5 years in a general regime colony with a fine of 3.66 million rubles, Safonov to 9 years in prison with a fine of one million rubles.” – TASS summons the prosecutor.
According to investigators, the defendants registered on the Internet platform “PRO.Kultura.RF”, where applications are accepted from companies requesting inclusion in the “Pushkin Card” program as organizers of cultural events, rented concert halls in Moscow and organized performances by artists. The accomplices offered the owners of the “Pushkin Cards” to buy tickets for the indicated concerts without the aim of attending them. At the same time, the volume of tickets sold far exceeded the spectator capacity of the rented halls. Payment for tickets was reimbursed from the budget within the framework of the “Pushkin Card” program, the halls were filled with extras attracted by money. Thus, the investigation established that the defendants stole more than 200 million rubles, causing especially great damage to the budget of the Russian Federation and JSC Post Bank, which issued the cards.
The criminal case was opened in March 2023. At the same time, a security arrest was imposed on the defendant’s property in the amount of about 100 million rubles.
As reported EADailyIn mid-November it became known about the arrest of a Moscow businessman accused of embezzlement within the framework of the Pushkin Card program. The fraudulent scheme has been operating since 2021 and performances were held in theaters in several regions: in the regions of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Bashkiria, Novgorod, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Ulyanovsk.
A criminal case was initiated against the suspect under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud).
