The trial of the former head of the Finance and Budget Department of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Nizami Mammadov, the former head of the Financial Service of the Air Force, Colonel Jalal Kazimov, the former head of the Financial Department of the Ground Forces Bayram Bayramov and the former head of the Navy Financial Service Vusal Alizade, who were detained for embezzlement, the process continues.
According to “Report”, the former head of the Department of Finance and Budget, Rafail Khalafov, who was summoned as a witness at the request of Nizami Mammadov’s lawyer, Rashad Mirmehdizade, was questioned again at the Baku Military Court, presided over by Judge Fikret. Aliyev.
In response to questions, Rafael Khalafov said that the investigation of the criminal case against him is ongoing and that he has paid another 800,000 manats to the state budget.
Rafael Khalafov did not respond to questions from lawyer Rashad Mirmehdizade:
“When I was first arrested, I thought: I confirm the statements I made later. I don’t remember much at the moment, everything I said there is true.”
Lawyer Rashad Mirmehdizadeh stated that Rafael Khalafov’s initial statement in the preliminary investigation coincides with the statements of both Nizami Mammadov and the inspectors:
“Both Nizami Mammadov and other inspectors stuck to their statements until the end. The figures are average. However, Rafael Khalafov later changed his statements. After that, he had conflicts with other defendants. During the investigation, he had to face many people. “.
Rafael Khalafov did not react to what the lawyer said and confirmed his final statements in the investigation:
“We all worked together, we embezzled money together. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Rashad Mirmehdizade then addressed questions to Bayram Bayramov. Regarding the amount received from him, Rafail said that in the episode between him and Khalafov there were many contradictory points.
Bayram Bayramov said that in 2021 they came together with Rafael Khalafov to inspect the body where he is head of the financial service. According to him, at that time there were known and unknown resources:
“Those who came to the inspection received 30 percent of the known funds and 60 percent of the unknown funds. During the 2021 inspection in the “N” building, I gave Hasan Pashayev and Rafael Khalafov 1,263,000 manats in inspection money on Ismayil’s car. However, there is another amount that is smaller, he says he bought it.”
Rafael Khalafov said that he had already given a detailed statement on this topic during interrogation: “I don’t want to answer useless questions. It doesn’t matter whether he gave the money to Hasan or to me. In total, Bayram gave 950,000 manat that day.”
The accused Jalal Kazimov pointed out that 7 million 555 thousand 216 manats are missing, corresponding to only 4 people in the criminal case of 143 million, this money belongs to Rafael Khalafov.
Rafael Khalafov said that he told everything in the investigation on that topic. He said he heard this amount here for the first time.
Later, Rafael Khalafov responded to questions about the transfer of 4 million 600 thousand manats to Namig Poladov: “Namig Poladov exiled me. But I can’t say a word about it. I know they want to take my word.”
Then lawyer Rashad Mirmehdiza said that the amount of 143 million was exaggerated:
“The people questioned in court also confirmed that the department of the Ministry of Finance, which supervises the Ministry of Defense, confirmed that there were no violations of the law related to budget spending in 2017-2021, they carried out inspections every year, and they did not The treasury department of the Ministry of Finance found embezzlement, which allocated the budget where it was looking, if there was food, why they allocated so much money and on the basis of which documents this amount was obtained confirmed, there is no evidence of some amounts. “
The lawyer noted that the person whose rights he defended was also charged with 4.6 million manat:
“Namig Poladov should have clarified that he came and received 4.6 million money, but he was not satisfied with my request. Although Rafael Khalafov testified correctly on all issues in his initial statement, he later changed his statement, saying that he had already taken a However, both Nizami Mammadov and the inspectors and the statements of the heads of the financial services of the military units agree with his initial statement.
Another defendant, Jalal Kazimov, disagreed with the accusation of 143 million: “It is impossible to embezzle this amount. The amounts withdrawn from the treasury were exaggerated figures. All cash payments given to soldiers of military units remained on our shoulders “While this was true in almost all military units, Rafael Khalafov also denied the amounts he received.”
The trial will continue on October 11.
It should be noted that Major General Nizami Mammadov, former head of the Finance and Budget Department of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Jalal Kazimov, former head of the Financial Service of the Air Force, Bayram Bayramov, former head of the financial department of the Ground Forces , Vusal Alizade, former head of the financial service of the Navy, Colonel Mahir Shirvanov, former head of the Procurement and Supply Department of the Ministry of Defense, as well as Malikmammad Gurbanov, former head of the Procurement and Supply Department of the Ministry. and Colonel Fikret Mirzayev, former head of the Ministry’s housing operations department, were arrested as a result of a special operation carried out by the State Security Service.
The defendants are accused of embezzling money from the state budget.
It should be noted that the total damage caused to the State in the criminal case is 143 million manats. The criminal cases were referred to the courts for consideration in separate proceedings. For the total damage caused to the State during the investigation period, 40 million manats were paid.
The Ministry of Finance was recognized as a victim in the criminal case. Each of the defendants was charged with article 179.4 of the Criminal Code (especially embezzlement by causing significant damage).