Bard Alexander Novikov plans to perform in Moscow, despite a written undertaking not to leave, issued by a Yekaterinburg court. And the prosecutor’s office refused to take his case of fraud on an especially large scale to court. Shareholders who have been waiting six years for housing promised by Novikov’s company are dissatisfied with this state of affairs.

Freedom for the bards

Tickets for the concert of Alexander Novikov, which will be held in the fall at the Kremlin Palace, cost from 2.5 thousand rubles to 15 thousand. And the cheapest ones were sold out on the same day when the singer announced performance. The fact that since December 2016 he has been under recognizance not to leave Yekaterinburg does not hinder him at all from performing in the capital.

A year ago he already performed in the Kremlin on his birthday. Investigators allowed him to leave, citing the fact that “Novikov’s concert activities are his main activity.” True, when after the concert he did not appear in Yekaterinburg for another month, the Investigative Directorate for the Sverdlovsk Region refused to comment.

And at the beginning of 2017, Novikov completely flew from Russia to the UAE. "I'm on vacation in United Arab Emirates. You should know that a written undertaking not to leave is not a restriction on a person’s movements in principle. I’m just obliged to notify about my location: where I flew to, when I’ll return,” he told reporters then.

Timur Khutov, head of the criminal practice of the law firm BMS Law Firm, found this explanation strange. “According to Art. 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior consists, in particular, in a written obligation of the suspect/accused not to leave the place of residence without permission. Therefore, Novikov’s words cannot be called correct - movements during subscription are of a permissive nature, and not of a notification nature. Moreover, in practice, it is very difficult to achieve travel abroad, since investigators may refuse on the basis of suspicions that the person may escape. As for travel for work, this is resolved in the same way - by contacting an investigator or a judge,” Khutov noted in a conversation with the website portal.

While Alexander Novikov was touring, the shareholders of the company founded by him and former Deputy Minister of Economy of the Sverdlovsk Region Mikhail Shilimanov were waiting for housing, in which they invested about 150 million rubles. Construction began in 2008 and stopped by 2011. According to investigators, the total damage to 65 shareholders and legal entity- consumer housing and construction cooperative (PZhSK) "Queens Bay" amounted to 54.3 million rubles.

Sverdlovsk Albion

10 years ago, Alexander Novikov, together with his son Igor, former regional official Shilimanov and realtor Larisa Assonova, decided to build luxury housing on the shore of Lake Shartash in Yekaterinburg. “Residents of Queens Bay are free people who, in the center of a modern metropolis, will be able to provide themselves with the comfort of a country residence. Reserved English classic style, expressed in architectural appearance houses, in small architectural forms, in the decoration of facades and elements of improvement of adjacent territories. The architecture of London villas is taken as the basis for the architectural image,” the Queens Bay project was announced.

The first residents were supposed to move in in 2012, but by that time not a single house had been completed. It turned out that the money received from shareholders was not enough. They went to the authorities, even went on a hunger strike. But to no avail. And they forgot about history for four years.

We remembered at the end of 2016, when Novikov quarreled with Larisa Assonova - by the way, the consequence of that conflict was a four-year prison sentence, which she is now serving.

“The realtor of Alexander Novikov and Mikhail Shilimanov for other business projects was their close friend Larisa Assonova,” Dmitry Rozhin, a lawyer whose services Assonova used, told KP-Ekaterinburg. - But one day they had a conflict over other lands. Novikov’s company Svetoyar previously bought agricultural land from the state for 20 million rubles. Then realtor Assonova sold 1/6 of this plot for 14 million rubles. This outraged Shilimanov and Novikov, who began to claim that these lands were worth almost 100 million. They believed that the realtor had forged documents and carried out a fraud without their consent.”

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Larisa Assonova became a defendant in a criminal case under the article “Fraud.” And in retaliation, she provided the investigation with documents on Queens Bay, which gave rise to a new criminal case. According to her version (Novikov claims that she is slandering), the same people supervised the allocation of money for the construction of Queens Bay from the housing cooperative fund and received this money as developers: Alexander Novikov, his son and Mikhail Shilimanov. Thus, they could control financial investments and carry out construction at inflated prices, leaving part of the money in their pockets.

In December 2016, the singer and his partner, a former official, were charged with embezzling funds from shareholders. Novikov was sent under house arrest, Shilimanov to a pre-trial detention center. However, before the end of the year, both were released on their own recognizance. Friends, Vladimir Vysotsky’s son Nikita and singer Vladimir Presnyakov Sr. stood up for Novikov.

Accomplice without participants

In November 2017, the Sysertsky District Court of the Sverdlovsk Region made a decision in the Svetoyar case - the one due to the initiation of which Larisa Assonova decided to talk about Queens Bay. She was sentenced to three years in prison, like the other founders of the UK Uktus company, Ivan Obukhov and Viktor Novikov (the bard’s namesake). The court concluded that the transaction between the bard's company (Svetoyar) and the company of his namesake (UK Uktus) was carried out without the knowledge of the artist.

By that time, Viktor Novikov had already been released on parole. Ivan Obukhov should be released from prison in the near future. And Assonova sat down. Moreover, a fourth year was added to the three years of general imprisonment in this case. In May 2018, she was found to be an accomplice in fraud in the case of theft of funds from Queens Bay shareholders. It is not clear who is an accomplice. Alexander Novikov and Mikhail Shilimanov still remain under recognizance not to leave the place - judging by the bard’s tour schedule, this does not bother him at all. And they may never end up in the dock.

This circumstance haunts the chairman of the Queens Bay public housing cooperative Zila Bulatova. On August 31, she went out on a solo picket to the building of the prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region. So she expressed disagreement with the decision of the supervisory agency, which refused to transfer to the court the materials of the case against the bard and his business partner.

From the document signed by the Deputy Prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Chernyshev, it follows that the specific circumstances of the case do not correspond to the collected evidence, and the investigation has not established evidence of the guilt of the accused.

In particular, the prosecutor's office noticed inconsistencies in the figures. The indictment states that 134.6 million rubles were collected for the construction of Queens Bay. Including 133.85 million rubles - this is the money of shareholders. According to the judicial construction and technical examination carried out at the direction of the investigation, 87.34 million rubles of this money were spent on housing construction. At the same time, Novikov and Shilimanov are charged with theft of 54.3 million rubles. Thus, construction costs plus the stolen property (141.6 million rubles) exceed the amount of funds collected.

They also pointed out to the investigation that the case was mainly based on the testimony of Larisa Assonova. The prosecutor's office believes that it has reasons to slander the former leaders.

Moreover, the resolution refusing to approve the indictment states that Novikov himself acted as an investor in the project. He provided for construction residential complex his land and was supposed to receive a yacht club and hotel building for it. However, neither one nor the other, unlike the houses for shareholders, has yet been built. Accordingly, the bard can be considered a victim.

Zilya Bulatova does not agree with all these arguments. She believes that the prosecutor's office has taken a strange position. All possible inconsistencies did not prevent Assonova from being sentenced in May, she recalls.

Among other things, Bulatova gave an explanation for the contradiction in the numbers. In a conversation with Znak.com, she recalled that in addition to houses for shareholders, several townhouses and cottages were built on the site. “Initially, their investor was the former partner of Novikov and Shilimanov [Vladimir] Klinov. It was not shareholders' money. But as part of the forensic construction and technical examination, they assessed all construction work on the site. Of the total amount of 87 million rubles, our house accounts for only about 30 million. Taking into account the amount of stolen goods imputed to Novikov and Shilimanov at 54 million rubles, this is less than what was collected from shareholders,” said the chairman of PZhSK.

In general, relations between Bulatova and Novikov have been tense for a long time. Shortly before the picket, she even announced people’s readiness to commit self-immolation if the artist avoids responsibility in a criminal case for stealing money from them. He responded by inviting her to sit on a stake. “Very right decision. But it’s expensive - you need kerosene, matches, and a fire extinguisher. It’s better to stake it straight away, preferably an aspen one. Or better yet, into the cesspool that she cares about so much. Along with 96 volumes of custom-made documents. Don’t be tormented, people are really looking forward to it,”

: people were driven to extreme measures by despair - construction was frozen, and the land of the cottage village was completely seized. The mastermind of the construction, singer Alexander Novikov, who invested about 200 million rubles in a residential complex on the shore of Shartash, refused to dialogue with shareholders and today for the first time explained his silence: “I was busy with business!”

Alexander Novikov opened his press conference with a lengthy review of the media, extensively quoting materials from local news agencies that, in his opinion, discredited his reputation. The prosecutor’s office is now deciding whether to initiate a criminal case: “My advice to you: record all informants on a tape recorder. Otherwise I will have to answer you.”

Talking about the fate of the project, the singer-entrepreneur explained the cessation of construction by objective factors.

Alexander Novikov:

Construction stopped for objective reasons: a crisis occurred - and new shareholders stopped joining the cooperative, cash stopped. But the management of the cooperative did not come up with anything other than rallies with slogans: “Novikov is a swindler”, “Thief Novikov, give back our money!” But it's not my fault! I'm not very good at construction myself. I met with the governor, the chairman of the government, and investors to find a way out of the situation. I was even ready to take out a loan to continue construction. But while I was silent, the press began to openly accuse me of an uncommitted crime. This is a monstrous, disgusting lie! 132 million were collected from shareholders, but 168 million were built! Where is the theft? I am the same deceived shareholder!

Despite the fact that even before the start of the press conference, Alexander Novikov ordered to “get this rabble out of here,” meaning the deceived shareholders who met him at the House of Journalists with posters “Give us back our apartments, swindler Novikov,” one of them - Andrei Grafsky - everything But I managed to take a place in the hall and ask the question: “Who should we, seventy shareholders, conduct a dialogue with?”

Alexander Novikov:

Chansonnier noted that a billion rubles are required to complete the project. According to him, he will be able to attract money from familiar bankers and oligarchs under his good name.

Why did you delay for four years, did not initiate a change in the management of the cooperative as the largest shareholder, and are only now trying to explain yourself?

Alexander Novikov:

Alexander Novikov named his competitor in the constituency, Evgeniy Zyablitsev, as the customer of the “operetta” hunger strike of the Queens Bay shareholders, showing journalists photographs of the same people who came to children’s concerts with his participation and there who handed out leaflets in the spirit of “Rogue Novikov, bring back apartments for us." The singer also announced a trial on September 7 to remove his opponent from the elections for violating election campaigning.

Alexander Novikov:

Returning to the fate of the Queens Bay cooperative, the singer named himself as a victim. In conclusion, he quoted a letter from one of the shareholders, Eduard Khapunov, in which he, on behalf of the 70 members of the cooperative, expresses hope for a constructive solution.

Placed under house arrest for two months. This preventive measure was chosen by the Yekaterinburg district court. Chansonnier is accused of fraud with money from shareholders of one of the residential complexes.

This decision was called expected. The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg chose a preventive measure in the form of house arrest for the famous chansonnier Alexander Novikov and detention for two months for the former Deputy Minister of Economy of the Sverdlovsk Region Mikhail Shilimanov. The investigation places the main blame on the latter.

“Shilimanov, being in fact the head of the housing cooperative, through abuse of trust, stole the funds of shareholders for a total amount of about 40 million rubles,” said Valeria Zhukova, senior assistant prosecutor of the Verkh-Isetsky district of Yekaterinburg.

The investigation believes that there may have been a conspiracy. Allegedly, those same 40 million were embezzled by Shilimanov and Novikov. They collected money for the construction of the Queens Bay cottage community. But in 2012, construction suddenly stopped. The company office gave one answer.

“They said that there is a lot of negativity on the Internet, apartments are not for sale, there are no sales, the money has run out, and for this reason construction has stopped,” said Zilya Bulatova, a shareholder.

Since 2012, shareholders have been knocking on the doorsteps of officials and law enforcement officers in the hope of returning the money. There was no answer. Then the pickets began. With posters "Novikov, return the money!" people boycotted the singer's election campaign to the local legislative assembly. After which Novikov held a press conference, where he stated that he himself had suffered from the actions of his former partner.

“I talked with our head of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate and the deputy chief of the prosecutor - they say, let’s open a case, then there will be a point, my name won’t be thrown around and people won’t think that I stole and for this reason nothing is being done there,” the singer said and musician.

One thing is not clear: why during all four years Novikov made no attempts to save the village and his own investments? If he understood that his ex-partner had deceived him.

“The matter did not move forward until Shalimanov and Novikov began to conflict with their partner, who was involved in the sale of real estate - with Mrs. Asonova. And when a conflict arose, she provided necessary information", explained human rights activist Dmitry Rozhin.

What kind of information served as the reason for starting the paperwork has not yet been disclosed. It is only known that a confrontation took place between partners Novikov and Shilimanov. Which means everything is just beginning. Meanwhile, the village is still in limbo. And in whose favor the litigation will end is also unclear.

“The main mistake of shareholders is that they chose the wrong scheme of relationship with the company. If they had entered into an agreement exclusively within the framework of the 214th federal law, they would have more guarantees and rights than they have now. This is the law about equity participation in construction, which provides for a number of strict guarantees, for example, rights to land plot, right of pledge,” explained lawyer Rodion Yuryev.

The shareholders themselves say: they believed Novikov for his “media presence.” Apparently, he forgot that the chansonnier already has ten years of experience visiting places not so remote.

Construction of the Queens Bay cottage community in Yekaterinburg will resume. Russian businessman Alibek Isaev, who lives in Dubai, agreed to invest in the scandalous project. We are talking about paying off debts to shareholders and completing the construction of a cottage village.

Alexander Novikov’s companion, former Deputy Minister of Economy of the Sverdlovsk Region, Mikhail Shilimanov, confirmed that negotiations with Isaev on financing the construction of Queens Bay are indeed underway: “I cannot speak for him (Alibek Isaev - Ed.) I can only confirm that these negotiations are ongoing and what is written in the press is in fact an interview with a living person named Isaev.”

“I won’t talk about it,” Shilimanov answered our correspondent’s question about his participation in the project and hung up.

It was not possible to reach Alexander Novikov by phone. His assistant Anastasia refused to comment on the situation about the resumption of construction of the Queens Bay cottage community, saying that she was not authorized to talk about it.

“I will not give any comments, because I am not authorized,” Anastasia told a veved.ru correspondent.

Let us remind you that last week information appeared that Alexander Novikov, while under recognizance not to leave the place, left the country and flew to the United Arab Emirates. The corresponding letter was posted in the official group of fans of the bard’s work on behalf of Novikov himself. He said that he flew to Dubai for five days on “personal matters” and would return back only on January 17. While in the United Arab Emirates, he most likely had a meeting with the owner social network dudu.ru and the president of the real estate company YZER Group Alibek Isaev.

Let us remind you that the construction of the Queens Bay cottage village on the shore of Lake Shartash began in 2008. In 2011, construction was frozen because there was not enough money to complete the project. Later it turned out that almost half of the shareholders’ contributions (about 70 million rubles) were withdrawn from the account of the Queens Bay housing cooperative to the accounts of Alexander Novikov and Mikhail Shilimanov. At the end of December 2016, a criminal case was opened on this fact. Mikhail Shilimanov and Alexander Novikov were charged with fraud on an especially large scale. On December 23, the Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg decided to arrest Mikhail Shilimanov. The court placed Alexander Novikov under house arrest. On December 29, both decisions on the preventive measure were challenged in the Sverdlovsk Regional Court. A few days later they were released on their own recognizance.