Case opened in North Ossetia regarding lawyer representing Russian citizens in ECHR
MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax) - An attorney from the Moscow region chamber of lawyers, Taisia Baskayeva, who represented Russian citizens in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), is suspected of fraud, the Russian Investigative Committee press office said on Wednesday.
On February 19, 2013 the ECHR gave premium of a total of over 26.5 million rubles to 42 former and current employees of the Russian emergency ministry of North Ossetia for serving in a conflict zone.
According to the information of the Investigative Committee, Baskayeva represented employee interests in court and transferred the named funds to her personal bank account. Then, without informing her clients of the total sums of money they were to receive, convinced them to sign documents stating that they had been paid in full. Having carried out her plan, the woman fled, and she was put on an international wanted list and charged in absentia.
Affected parties have sustained damages of over 26.5 million rubles as a result of the attorney's actions, the Russian Investigative Committee said.
The law enforcement authorities detained Baskayeva in the Moscow region. As of now, the lawyer has been placed under arrest as a pre-trial restriction and knows the charges against her.
Baskayeva is accused of fraud and 40 counts of large-scale fraud.
The investigation of the criminal case is continuing.