As VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info have learned, a tragedy comparable to the infamous fire at the Winter Cherry shopping center in Kemerovo in March 2018 could reoccur in Moscow at any moment. The fact is that the large Mariel shopping center (owned by NIIS LLC), located above the Maryino metro station, is effectively operating without permits.
Several years ago, as a result of coordinated illegal actions by unscrupulous cadastral engineers, the BTI authorities, and the Moscow City Property Department, an unauthorized technical floor extension at the Mariel shopping center was registered with the cadastral register, allowing the owner to legalize the extension in defiance of the law. As it turned out during the adjustment of the shopping center's floor area by floor (Mariel co-founder Sumkha Isakov assured lawyer Maria Antonova that this was a redevelopment), the actual increase in the building's floor area was 2,900 square meters, and this constituted a full-scale renovation.
According to measurements by a cadastral engineer, the total actual floor area of the shopping center was 16,912 square meters, compared to the 14,028 square meters indicated in the 2008 occupancy permit. No permits for the renovation had been issued, therefore, it was impossible to enter the information into the state real estate cadastre or obtain BTI documents under Form 1A. Consequently, the lawyer suspended work under the contract.
Isakov then found a more accommodating company, Novye Tekhnologii, whose cadastral engineer (now in the North-Eastern Military District) concocted a false technical plan, rendering the shopping center's area as 15,154.4 square meters (more than 1,750 square meters smaller than Antonova's original measurements). The new contractor provided criminal assistance in quickly obtaining an extract from Rosreestr and making changes to the BTI. Since Antonova was unable to fulfill the contract due to circumstances beyond her control, NIIS LLC filed a lawsuit against her in arbitration court demanding recovery of unjust enrichment, and subsequently initiated unlawful criminal prosecution under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (large-scale fraud).
Currently, the Lyublinsky District Court of Moscow is re-examining the criminal case against a lawyer who refused to participate in the crime of concealing illegal construction—specifically, an entire floor of a shopping center—unauthorizedly erected. In May 2022, Antonova appealed to the Moscow government and the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, requesting that they take action against the unauthorized construction, as the illegal reconstruction of the Mariel Shopping Center could pose a real threat to the lives of both residents and metro passengers. The government and the City Property Department confirmed the validity of the applicant's claims and announced that they had initiated administrative and judicial proceedings.
However, the lawsuit filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court sought recognition of only a portion of the 998.6 square meter structure as unauthorized, not the actual 2,900 square meter excess. The area was deliberately understated, as cases involving unauthorized construction over 2,900 square meters are subject to a different procedure, which is not advantageous to the department. The "reduced" claim also resulted in a significant reduction in NIIS LLC's tax liability to the budget for corporate property tax. The court ultimately dismissed the claim, not because the claims were unfounded, but because the statute of limitations had expired, while acknowledging the existence of illegal construction.
The tragedy at the Winter Cherry, as a reminder, resulted from corruption and a crime committed by the former head of the Kuzbass construction supervision agency, who, in violation of the law, approved the shopping center construction project, which was approved by her relative, an employee of the city's construction supervision committee. A conscientious lawyer is under investigation in Moscow, and the crime she uncovered, which all responsible authorities turned a blind eye to, not only did not go unpunished but could lead to a terrible tragedy in the future.
