27 Jul 2018 19:25

NPO Lavochkin case suspect Tretyakov "ready" to appear in court

MOSCOW/IRKUTSK. July 27 (Interfax) - The wanted lawyer Igor Tretyakov, one of suspects in the case against the chief of NPO Lavochkin, says he is not going to leave the country, is ready to face court and hopes to avoid police custody.

"There were various pieces of advice, but again I am an honest man and won't hide anything. I will go back, my conscience is pure. Thanks for allowing me to rest," Tretyakov told Interfax from Irkutsk on Friday, when asked whether he changed his mind about going back to Moscow.

Earlier he said that he flew from Moscow to Irkutsk early on July 25 to take part in an aquabike show on Lake Baikal. Later it transpired that he was placed on the federal wanted list.

As for his prospects, Tretyakov hopes he will manage to persuade the court not to arrest him. "I hope the court will heed my argument," he said.

"I think it would be fair to release me on condition. After all I have 26 people working in my office [the law firm Tretyakov and Partners], I keep everything together," Tretyakov said.

Commenting on his charges of a fraudulent appropriation of NPO Lavochkin's funds, Tretyakov said: "They say that Tretyakov's lawyers did not attend any court sessions and simply got the money. But let us ask: which cases they did not attend? Well, apparently the investigators think: right now it does not matter, we will arrest them all and investigate later."

"It is this political maneuver. To show everyone: our lawyers have stopped earning money and started stealing it," Tretyakov said.

When asked what the likelihood was of him being detained on returning to Moscow on Sunday evening, Tretyakov said: "One hundred per cent. I am a lawyer, after all. I did not buy the degree, I have had legal experience since enrolling in the law academy in 1996."

"There is hardly any chance. I think they will grab me right from the plane, without letting in the [defense] lawyer or the press. I will be taken to a cell, charged and hauled before the Babushkinsky [district] court," Tretyakov said.

He did not rule out a release, however. "Well, should the court wish to hear me, it will. And if it has no such wish, it won't [hear]. Then we will proceed towards the trial with no rush," Tretyakov said.

On Thursday Babushkinsky court in Moscow ordered the arrest of NPO Lavochkin's chief Sergei Lemeshevsky and directorate chief Yekaterina Averyanova, both accused of embezzling millions of rubles.

After the hearing Lemeshevsky's lawyer Ivan Tuchkov said the defense team will appeal the ruling at Moscow City Court.

Investigators have accused Tretyakov, Lemeshevsky, and his subordinate Yekaterina Averyanova of stealing money from Roscosmos "by entering into fictitious contracts with the law firm Tretyakov and Partners for the provision of legal services, which in reality were delivered by the staff of the NPO's legal department."

Total payments to the law firm amounted to around 330 million rubles. All three suspects have been charged with massive fraud, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee said.