Former Minister from Belarus Re-Sentenced in Russia — He Faces Another 14 Years

The Tagansky Court of Moscow handed down a second sentence to former Open Government Minister Mikhail Abyzov. This time, he was found guilty in a case of fraud involving investments from the Russian Venture Company (RVC), Moskvichmag reports.

According to the investigation, in 2016, Abyzov orchestrated the theft of 5 million dollars, which the state-owned RVC had invested in the American company Alion Energy, involved in solar energy. The money was intended for the development of promising technologies, but, according to the prosecution, it was withdrawn through controlled structures and embezzled.

Abyzov did not admit his guilt. He claimed that he personally invested funds in Alion Energy and lost money along with other investors. The defense insisted that an unsuccessful venture investment is not tantamount to fraud.

Taking into account the previous verdict, the final sentence amounted to 14 years in a penal colony. He was also assigned an additional fine of over 80 million Russian rubles (about one million dollars). The prosecution had requested eight years of imprisonment for the ex-minister in the new case, and a total of 15 years in a strict-regime penal colony and a fine of 90 million rubles, combining it with the previous sentence.

Abyzov's first verdict was issued in December 2023. The Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow sentenced him to 12 years in a strict-regime penal colony and a fine of 80 million rubles for creating a criminal community, fraud, and other crimes.

The court determined that Abyzov and his accomplices, between 2011 and 2014, stole about 4 billion rubles from large Novosibirsk energy companies "Sibeco" and "Regional Electric Grids". For this purpose, according to the verdict, fictitious transactions for the acquisition of shares through a Cypriot company at inflated prices were used.

The former minister was also found guilty of illegal participation in entrepreneurial activity.

Mikhail Abyzov was born in Minsk in 1972, studied there at school, and then moved to Moscow. Abyzov was arrested in the spring of 2019 on charges of theft and transferring four billion Russian rubles abroad. In 2023, he was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony and fined 80 million Russian rubles (about one million dollars).

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