The president of the Rostov regional court, Elena Zolotareva, and her deputy, deputy president of the Council of Judges of the region, Tatyana Yurova, were placed under house arrest until June 4 in case of participation in a corruption scheme. The restraint measure was chosen by the Basmanny court in Moscow. The Eastern Herald tells what is known about the “case of the Rostov judges”.
At the beginning of April, several high-ranking magistrates and regional officials were searched simultaneously at their homes, as well as at their places of work. April 3 regional edition of 1rnd.ru, citing a source reported that during a search of the house of the deputy chairman of the Rostov region Council of Judges, Tatyana Yurova, they found about 200 million rubles. in liquid.
“In addition to a large sum of money, Swiss Longines watches, clothes, perfumes, jewelry and accessories from the famous Gucci house, many “joys” Louis Vuitton and other women, as well as gold jewelry was found,” quoted. about his interlocutor.
The FSB and employees of the Central Office of the Investigative Committee of Russia, according to preliminary data, suspect 32 people of participating in a bribery scheme for issuing “necessary” sentences for a fee. Rostov Regional Court President Elena Zolotareva, her deputy Tatyana Yurova and seven other Rostov judges are in Moscow as part of the investigation.
Tatyana Yurova has been working at the Rostov Regional Court since 1999, before that, for 15 years she held various positions in the regional court system, in particular, she worked at the Leninsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don. In 2012, Yurova was appointed deputy chairperson of the board of judges of the Rostov regional court for a six-year term; in 2018, it was renewed. Yurova’s term was due to expire in 2024.
According to 1rnd.ru, on April 5, the Supreme Qualification Council for Judges private the status of judge of the president of the Rostov regional court, Elena Zolotareva. The day before, she had submitted her resignation. The same procedure awaits Tatyana Yurova and other defendants in this case. However, there is no information about this yet on the official VKKS website.
Elena Zolotareva worked in the district prosecutor’s office of the Rostov region since 1983, later became a people’s judge, and since 1989 a judge in the Rostov regional court. From 1998 to 2006, she was president of the regional judges’ qualification council, then vice-president. Zolotareva headed the Rostov Regional Court in 2015, at the end of 2021 the president extended her powers for another six years.
Source 1rnd.ru in one of the Russian law enforcement agencies informed that the investigation, as part of the investigation of a criminal case into a bribery scheme in a Rostov court, received documentary evidence from 14 judges, “not counting the already detained “top”. “Everything is just beginning”, the publication quotes the words of its interlocutor.
According to the portal 161.ru, searches are also pass in the Oktyabrsky, Zheleznodorozhny, Kirovsky and Sovetsky courts of Rostov-on-Don, as well as in regional courts – in the Volgodonsky district, Shakhty and Kamensk-Shakhtinsky city court.
“Many are afraid and are immediately ready to testify. Mainly against Yurova and Zolotareva. As it turned out from the testimony of two defendants in the criminal case, Yurova kept “all the regional courts in fear.” <...> Yurova herself coordinated everything with Zolotareva,” the source quotes the portal. The Notebook Rostov publication also reported on the detention of Andrei Roschevsky, head of the judicial department. He allegedly controlled the course of several corruption cases in the Leninsky and Kirovsky district courts, the portal 161.ru reports, citing a source. To date, at least seven criminal cases have been opened for fraud, corruption and abuse of power, but no official statement has yet been received from the FSB and the Investigative Committee. The source of "Notepad Rostov" in law enforcement underline that “the decision on the visit of the security forces to the Rostov regional court was taken at the highest level”. By the end of April, according to the publication’s interlocutor, the number of defendants in the criminal case on corruption may increase significantly.
At the same time, the press service of the Rostov regional court said that it did not have information on the initiation of criminal proceedings and the choice of a coercive measure for Zolotareva and Yurova. As of press time, The Eastern Herald’s request has not received a response from the court.
