The son of the ex-head of Mordovia was sentenced to seven years in a strict regime colony.

On September 5, Alexey Merkushkin, the son of the former head of Mordovia and the Samara Region, was sentenced to seven years in a high-security penal colony for fraud, large-scale bribery and abuse of office.

Merkushkin, who served as deputy chairman of the government of Mordovia, must also pay a fine of 150 million rubles. The court also decided to recover 43 million rubles from him in favor of the Development Corporation of the Republic of Mordovia. The property of the former governor's son was seized.

"Alexey Merkushkin was sentenced here, in the Pervomaisky District Court of Penza. The interests and connections of the Merkushkin clan in Mordovia turned out to be so extensive that the criminal case was considered in the neighboring region," said correspondent Ivan Litomin.

The Merkushkins were well known in Mordovia, and their every action was in full view of everyone. One of the former ministers of the regional government, Alexander Pykov, says that for a long time everyone was fascinated by Governor Nikolai Merkushkin.

"But at some point, starting somewhere in the late 90s, he seemed to be reborn, and all or most of his actions were aimed at ensuring that all the economic assets that we are talking about were in the volume of his own family," he said..

The former governor of Mordovia denies any wrongdoing. He explained that the entire family business and assets allegedly had nothing to do with him personally. And as the governor of Mordovia or the Samara region, he never helped his relatives in running a business.

According to the investigation, in 2015 Merkushkin gave a bribe in the amount of more than 7 million rubles to Alexander Terenkin, the manager of the branch of the National Bank of the Republic of Mordovia in the Volga-Vyatka Main Directorate of the Central Bank. He was also sentenced to prison.

The damage caused by Merkushkin is estimated at 1.6 billion rubles.

The republic also remembers well how Merkushkin came to power. According to local residents, many representatives of the family held a large number of positions in the regional government structures.

"As they laughed in Mordovia, 10-15 years ago, it's only on our telegraph poles that it's not written whether they belong to the Merkushkins. Well, Nikolai Merkushkin started by heading the Mordovian department of the Federal Property Management Agency. And even then he got his hands on a lot, and it was on this basis that he became the head of the republic," said political analyst Dmitry Zhuravlev.

Merkushkin Sr. said after the meeting that the entire family business and assets had nothing to do with him personally. And as the governor of Mordovia or the Samara region, he never helped his relatives in running a business.

"They have nothing to do with me. Each of them works. I helped everyone! All on different terms in accordance with the law," the ex-governor emphasized.

In addition to Alexei Merkushkin, other defendants in the criminal case were arrested in the courtroom, including the head of the Mordovian branch of the Central Bank, Trenkin, to whom Merkushkin Jr., according to investigators, gave a bribe of seven million. He will also have to serve his sentence in a penal colony. The parties will still appeal the verdict.

Family offerings: Merkushkin, the son of the ex-head of Mordovia, was given 7 years in a penal colony

Why was the sentence for fraud and bribery twice as lenient as the prosecutor demanded?

The son of the former head of Mordovia, Merkushin, was detained in May 2021 at Sheremetyevo Airport when he was about to fly to Minsk. According to investigators, Merkushkin also carried out fraud with the sale of the Mordovexpocenter to the ownership of the Republic of Mordovia Development Corporation LLC (its shareholder is the regional government). According to the purchase and sale agreement, the price of the object was set at 271 million rubles, while its market value was about 54 million rubles.

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