Ex-Head Of Department For Fighting Against Economic Crimes Helped Gangsters “Beat Debts Out” Of Local Businessmen In Maryina Horka

A gang of racketeers and the former head of the Department for fighting against economic crimes, who is believed to be connected with this gang, stand trial in Pukhavichy district.

A court trial on the so-called “racketeers case” has been started in the Pukhavichy district court. Four people are on the dock, including the former head of the Department for fighting against economic crimes. According to the investigators, the plotters physically forced the local entrepreneurs to pay the debts. They took them to the woods, beat and forced to dig graves.

The following persons are listed as defendants in the case: 39-year-old Dzmitry Sanikovich, 33-year-old Artus Zinovich, 30-year-old Andrei Mazanik and 43-year-old Yauhen Kozyr. The latter had headed the local Department for fighting against economic crimes before the criminal case was started. Unlike the other subjects of the case, he is the only one who is not under guard at the moment. He spent 6 months in the remand prison, naviny.by reports.

As stated in the accusation, Sanikovich agreed with the director of the local construction company on reorganization of the company. They also agreed he would get the 40% share. Later on, he decided to give up his participation in the business and demanded that his partner should return him 12 thousand dollars which he had invested in the development of the company, and 10 thousand dollars more as a salary.

As the partner didn’t return the money voluntarily, Sanikovich made arrangements with previously convicted Zinovich and Mazanik so they would help him beat the debt out of his partner. The victim was repeatedly beaten, taken to the woods, forced to dig his own grave. Apart from that, Dzmitry Sanikovich made arrangements with Yauhen Kozyr so that they would deliver his ex-business partner to the police department to put pressure on him there with an aim to beat the debt out of him. In the end, the head of the Department for fighting against economic crimes conducted an illegal pre-investigative check. Before this, they seized the victim’s electronic signature, after which he lost the access to the company’s current accounts.

As for the personality of Yauhen Kozyr, it is known that he has served in the police since 1998, and was appointed as head of the Department for fighting against economic crimes in 2012. He had a rank of a senior lieutenant. He claimed in court he didn’t work anywhere at that moment. He has friendly relations with Sanikovich. Yauhen Kozyr is accused of abuse of power and official misconduct.

Dzmitry Sanikovich is accused of racketeering, fraud and a number of official crimes, and also of abetment to bribery. According to the criminal case materials, he soft-talked one of the local businessmen to give 2 thousand dollars to the employees of “Gosstandard”. He also demanded that another businessman should give him 1 thousand dollars because he had allegedly facilitated a beneficial contract for conducting construction works.

In the Main Department for Fighting against Organized Crime and Corruption they noted that the victims had refused to submit their statements and give evidence against the persons involved in the criminal proceedings before their arrest, fearing for own lives and health.

All four defendants pleaded not guilty. "I categorically disagree with the accusation, - Kozyr has said. - The case materials have been rigged by the staff of the Chief Administration for Fighting against Organized Crime and the Investigatory Committee’s Administration. I got slandered. I acted within the law."

The key person involved in the case Sanikovich said in court: "I absolutely deny the guilt. It's all a slander and a lie.”