Ex-heads of Sochi sanatorium Belarus imprisoned for major stealing

They were returned guilty of major stealing of money during the reconstruction of the sanatorium Belarus in Sochi, Yezhednevnik reports.

Heorhi Sarakashysh, ex-director of the sanatorium, his deputy Alyaksandr Kizima and head of a Sochi construction company Andrei Merenkov have been sentenced to imprisonment in Minsk. The accused stole about 22 billion roubles from the President’s Administration (over $2 billion), investigators reported.

They started stealing money before the Olympics-2014 in Sochi. A recreation complex was being built at that time. It was supposed to become part of the sanatorium Belarus.

Alyaksandr Kizima and Andrei Merenkov have been imprisoned for 9 years. Director of the sanatorium Hoeorhi Sarakashysh has been imprisoned for 6 years. All of them will serve their sentences in top-security prisons. The time they spent in the KGB detention centre will be included in their terms.

Furthermore, they will have to compensate for the damage done – 20.6 billion roubles to the President’s Administration, 1.2 billions – to the sanatorium Belarus and 1.8 billion to the state.

All the accused were arrested in December 2012. The investigation was not public. The hearing was open but neither the Investigation Committee nor the public prosecutor's office announced that the investigation was over and that the hearing had begun.

Photo: ej.by