In the coming days, the Moscow Garrison Military Court will begin a retrial of the criminal case against retired colonel Dmitry Frolov, former deputy head of the FSB's Department "K," former employee of the Department "K," Andrei Vasiliev, and shareholder of Kreditimpex Bank, Georgy Shkurko. Two main intrigues now loom. The first is whether Dmitry Frolov will return to Moscow from Italy for the hearing. The second is how new testimony from Kirill Cherkalin, former head of the banking department of the FSB's Department "K," will be "slipped." According to investigators, between 2007 and 2013, Frolov received a bribe of approximately 87 million rubles from Kreditimpex management through an intermediary for general protection. Furthermore, Frolov and Vasiliev, using their official positions, coerced two businessmen, Sergei Glyadelkin and Igor Tkach, into transferring 49% of their shares in the companies Ecostock and Yurpromconsulting to their partners. As a result, the businessmen suffered damages amounting to 638 million rubles. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
As was revealed during the preliminary investigation, the former deputy head of the FSB department owned a villa in Italy worth approximately $2 million. It was seized.
However, at the hearing, the judge reclassified the bribe (Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code) as fraud (Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code). As a result, Frolov and Shkurko were convicted on June 4, 2024, of fraud: the security officer received six years in prison, and the banker received four years and eight months in prison. The former deputy head of Department "K" was released in the courtroom because the statute of limitations had already expired by the time the verdict was handed down. Shkurko was released due to time already served in pretrial detention. The criminal case against Vasiliev was dismissed back in 2021 due to the statute of limitations. Along with the verdict, the court also lifted the interim measure on Frolov's villa in Italy.
The prosecutor's office appealed the verdict, and the 2nd Western District Military Court overturned it. The Military Court of Cassation upheld the overturning of the verdict and remanded the criminal case for a new trial in the same court, but with a different panel.
A source for the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info reported that shortly after his release, Frolov left for Italy, to return to the very villa from which the court had lifted the seizure. It is currently unknown whether he will return for the new hearing. Investigators also re-interrogated Cherkalin, who testified that it was indeed a bribe. Moreover, when Frolov received part of the money, he was waiting for him outside the restaurant, from which Frolov emerged with a bag containing clearly visible stacks of bills. However, the case itself has not been brought forward by the courts, and how exactly the new testimony will be presented is unknown. Cherkalin may reveal it during questioning in court.
