‘Pointless Illegal Persecution’: Murauyou Speaks Last Word In Court

The former owner of Motovelo called any decision of the court, with the exception of an acquittal, illegal.

This was stated by businessman Aliaksandr Murauyou in his last word in the Leninski district court of Minsk on May 15, tut,by reports.

Murauyou claims that seven Austrian companies, whose director or representative he was in Belarus, invested $ 100 million in the country in 2002-2015. $ 200 million was "the cost of implemented investment projects in Belarus by these Austrian companies with the participation of the banks of Austria, Latvia, Russia and Belarus. The efficiency of Belarusian enterprises has increased several-fold: the glass factory Yalizava, RosintehGroup, Motovelo and others. Over $ 1 billion was produced and sold at Belarusian enterprises in 2002-2015. 3 thousand people were employed for 13 years.

"The state received hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and benefits from business investment activity, from the socio-economic effect in all its forms: wages, sports, support for disabled people, veterans," - he stated.

The businessman, who was arrested on June 1, 2015, believes that he was "subjected to pointless and illegal criminal persecution." "In this litigation, which in itself is not based on law, my legitimate rights to defense have been violated dozens of times. I am deprived of the right to show evidence of my innocence to the court. I am deprived of the right to present to the court the evidence that refutes the accusation. The court has never reacted to information and facts about the crimes committed by the body conducting the criminal proceedings, " - Murauyou said.

He called the actions of the body conducting the criminal proceedings "devoid of any logic", contradicting "the interests of the society and the state." Among the victims were his family, children, elderly parents and brothers who suffered "just because they are my brothers". "The Belarusians lost about 2 thousand jobs. The enterprises are stopped, bankrupted and degraded. The banks have lost dozens of millions of dollars. The state has lost dozens of millions of dollars, " - Murauyou said. "Seven Austrian companies invested $ 100 million in 2002-2015 and suffered losses in Belarus. Taking into account the average market capitalization percentage, and the main investments were in 2002-2008, at a level lower than loans and deposits of Belarusian banks, this amounts to more than $ 300 million as of May 2018," - he added. The businessman stressed that "the scale and accuracy of the figures I quote, the degree of rounding and generalization is quite accurate for such an event as the last word in court."

Aliaksandr Murauyou believes that "this is a high price" for putting him under trial, "the director of Austrian companies residing in Austria, receiving income and taxpayer in Austria, a tax non-resident of Belarus." "The Austrian company ATEC Trading paid 10 thousand dollars as taxes to the budget of Austria. The criminal prosecution body of Belarus believes that it is fair that these 10 thousand dollars, perhaps less, should come from four Belarusian enterprises to the budget of Belarus," - Murauyou said. "Seven Austrian companies for $ 10,000 in taxes allegedly overpaid in Austria and allegedly unpaid by Belarusian companies in Belarus, are losing $ 300 million in Belarus. For $10K? My watch is more expensive," - he added.

The businessman is charged under Part 2 of Article 243 - tax evasion by four Belarusian enterprises (Motovelo Inter CJSC, CJSC Bicycle Company of the MVZ, CJSC Motorcycle Company Minsk-Moto, CJSC MVZ Techno) and with regard to their transactions with the Austrian ATEC. The state prosecutor estimated the damage from underpayment by four companies of the profit tax in the amount of Bn 351,603 thousand. All transactions between ATEC and Belarusian companies are recognized as fictitious under infamous Decree # 488 on combating pseudo-entrepreneurial structures.

The state prosecutor asked for 3 years of imprisonment for Aliaksandr Murauyou.

As it was previously reported, when asked about the confession of guilt, Murauyou replied that he acknowledged all his actions and completely repented sincerely in them. At the same time, he clarified that he did not fully understand the meaning of the charge and the interpretation of the concept of "a person who exercises actual leadership."

It is worth saying that in January 2017, Aliaksandr Murauyou already spoke with the last word in the first criminal case. As a result, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison (the prosecutor requested 12) and confiscation of property - including Motovelo shares. He was found guilty of all the crimes he was charged with: "Fraud" (Part 4, Article 209 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus), "Theft" (Part 4 of Article 210), "Evasion from payment of taxes" (Part 2 of Article 243), "Organization and Aiding in the Committing of Crimes" (Article 16).

The court will announce the verdict in the second case of Murauyou on May 30.