Former Minister of Justice Kovalev. Valentin Kovalev. Scandal and resignation

In June 1997, he was temporarily suspended, and on July 2, he was released from the post of Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation in connection with the appearance of funds mass media video materials defaming the minister.

Heading the Ministry of Justice, he considered regional legislation to be one of the main problems.

Based on the examination of approximately 26 thousand normative acts at the regional level carried out by the Ministry, it was stated that approximately a third of them contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation. In 1996 alone, according to the former minister, the prosecutor's office, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice, protested more than two tens of thousands of regulations adopted by the constituent entities of the Federation.

In this regard, V. Kovalev considered it necessary to adopt a special law on the liability of senior officials for violation of the current Constitution, including criminal liability, in the event that the consequences of the adopted unconstitutional regional laws will be “severe” for Russian Federation.

After his resignation, he headed the movement “Lawyers for Human Rights and a Decent Life.” At the beginning of 1999, he initiated the creation of a new public association- "Civil solidarity". In February 1999, he was arrested on charges of embezzling financial resources from a public fund under the Ministry of Justice while he was a minister, as well as illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.

In August 2000, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation approved the indictment and sent a criminal case to court accusing Kovalev of accepting bribes and embezzlement Money.

According to the investigation (Izvestia, 08/02/2000), more than 1 billion non-denominated rubles were stolen from the Fund for the Public Protection of Civil Rights created under the Ministry of Justice. On October 3, 2001, by decision of the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 9 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years. According to the court decision, Kovalev’s land plot in the Moscow region and an apartment in Moscow were also confiscated, and 40 thousand dollars received as a bribe were turned into state revenue.

Kovalev was also deprived of the class rank of counselor of justice and the right to hold positions in law enforcement agencies for three years.

Chief specialist of the Guild of Russian Lawyers since January 1999; former Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation (1995-1997); born January 10, 1944 in Dnepropetrovsk; Graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University, the Higher School of Public Administration. D.F. Kennedy of Harvard University (USA), Doctor of Law, Professor; worked at a metallurgical plant and in a rocket and space technology design bureau; 1976-1986 - taught and was engaged in scientific work at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; 1986-1993 - Professor at the Higher Law School and the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation; 1992-1993 - General Director of the Legal Center of the Foundation for National and International Security; in December 1993 he was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the first convocation on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, from January 1994 to January 1995 he was one of the four deputy chairmen of the State Duma, from December 1994 he headed the headquarters of the State Duma on the situation, related to the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, was a member of the Supervisory Commission for organizing the negotiation process with the Chechen Republic and chairman of the joint tripartite commission on human rights in Chechnya; On January 5, 1995 he was appointed Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation; On January 10, 1995, he was expelled from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction in the State Duma for joining an “anti-people government” without agreement with the faction; in July 1997 he was relieved of his post as minister; has the rank of Colonel of the Internal Service and the rank of State Counselor of Justice of the Russian Federation, 1st class; Academician of the International Slavic Academy; Vice-President of the international organization "Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation"; in February 1999 he became the organizer of the public association "Civil Solidarity"; author of about 200 scientific papers on problems of jurisprudence and the book “Dossier of Repression”; was arrested on charges of embezzlement of public funds (February 3, 1999) and sentenced by the Moscow City Court to 9 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years (October 3, 2001); Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation; married, has a daughter; enjoys classical literature, classical music, and winter sports. In June 1997, he was temporarily suspended, and on July 2, he was released from the post of Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation due to the appearance in the media of video materials discrediting the minister. While heading the Ministry of Justice, he considered regional legislation one of the main problems. Based on the examination of approximately 26 thousand normative acts at the regional level carried out by the Ministry, it was stated that approximately a third of them contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation. In 1996 alone, according to the former minister, the prosecutor's office, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice, protested more than two tens of thousands of regulations adopted by the constituent entities of the Federation. In this regard, V. Kovalev considered it necessary to adopt a special law on the liability of senior officials for violation of the current Constitution, including criminal liability, in the event that the consequences of the adopted unconstitutional regional laws would be “severe” for the Russian Federation. After his resignation, he headed the movement “Lawyers for human rights and a decent life." At the beginning of 1999, he initiated the creation of a new public association, “Civil Solidarity.” In February 1999, he was arrested on charges of embezzling financial resources from a public fund under the Ministry of Justice while he was a minister, as well as illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. In August 2000, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation approved the indictment and sent a criminal case to court accusing Kovalev of accepting bribes and embezzling funds. According to the investigation (Izvestia, 08/02/2000), more than 1 billion non-denominated rubles were stolen from the Fund for the Public Protection of Civil Rights created under the Ministry of Justice. On October 3, 2001, by decision of the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 9 years of suspended imprisonment with probation for a period of 5 years. According to the court decision, Kovalev’s land plot in the Moscow region and an apartment in Moscow were also confiscated, and 40 thousand dollars received as a bribe were turned into state revenue. Kovalev was also deprived of the class rank of counselor of justice and the right to hold positions in law enforcement agencies for three years.

Valentin Kovalev - the first star of the erotic thriller

Larisa Kislinskaya

The former head of the Russian Ministry of Justice, Valentin Kovalev, sentenced to nine years in prison (suspended - with a probationary period of five years), despite the ridiculousness of the punishment, turned out to be the only minister of the post-Soviet era whose criminal case was brought to trial. Never before has a Russian court sentenced an official of such high rank. Employees of the Investigative Committee (IC) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation confirmed: the case of Valentin Kovalev might not have reached the court if not for the publication of my article in the newspaper “Top Secret” (1997. No. 6) “And the minister is naked”, illustrated with a printout of a video recording of the Minister of Justice’s sexual pleasures in a bathhouse "Solntsevskaya" organized crime group with prostitutes paid by the same criminal structure.

It was after our publication that Kovalev was relieved of his post by decree of the President of Russia. Trying to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the public, Kovalev filed a lawsuit. We won and proved that he was imprinted in the bathhouse.

But it's not about the bathhouse. The former Minister of Justice was convicted of repeated theft of property entrusted to him on a large scale, committed as part of an organized group (Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), as well as taking bribes (Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), that is, he was convicted of crimes falling under the concept of “corruption”, which our deputies talk so much about the fight against.

The investigation took a long time to gather its strength before opening a criminal case against Valentin Kovalev. But as soon as the wheel of justice began to turn, terrible pressure began on witnesses (many defendants in the criminal case said goodbye to their lives against their will), and then, in February 1999, the former Minister of Justice was arrested and transported first to Butyrka, and then to Matrosskaya Silence. A few months later, the new leadership of the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (the resignation of the previous one is directly related to the criminal cases of Kovalev and his assistant banker Angelevich) began, to use the now fashionable language, to “put pressure” on the investigative team. “Guys, you made the whole world laugh by imprisoning the Minister of Justice,” - this is exactly the phrase uttered by Sergei Novoselov, who then headed the investigative unit of the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. However, the scandal surrounding the voluptuous lawyer could no longer be hushed up, and the case went to court. Quietly, many influential defenders distanced themselves from him, in particular the omnipresent Boris Berezovsky, as well as his friend-rival Vladimir Gusinsky.

The former Minister of Justice, for whom the nickname “bath minister” was firmly established, as one of the investigators assured me, went down in history forever modern Russia. From his example, many understood: a blow to corrupt officials should only be struck below the belt. Massive filming of the sex pleasures of high-ranking civil servants began. In Smolensk, for example, a senior investigator for particularly important cases of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, who was on a business trip, was filmed having bathing fun with local children. The video sequence plus a statement from one of the Lolitas about an alleged rape knocked the capital’s “important man” out of the saddle. As expected, history repeated itself later in the form of a farce, when a porn series appeared on television with the participation of the Prosecutor General of Russia himself. Or, as it is fashionable to say now, a person similar to the Prosecutor General.

The apotheosis was the trial at which Valentin Kovalev demanded from his seemingly fellow sufferer Yuri Skuratov to refute the information presented by the Prosecutor General in the book of memoirs “The Dragon Option”.

Kovalev disliked Skuratov because it was he who reported to Boris Yeltsin, who drew attention to our publication, about the affairs of the Minister of Justice. In general, Valentin Alekseevich behaved absolutely inappropriately. At first he told everyone that his arrest was revenge from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the fact that he personally decided to take away the structure of the GUIN from the police headquarters, although the transfer of all penitentiary institutions to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation became one of the conditions for Russia’s entry into the European Union. Then he suddenly declared that he had incriminating evidence on the Prosecutor General, for which he put him behind bars. There were also some fantasies: supposedly on the eve of his resignation, Kovalev was supposed to give a super report on corruption (apparently somewhere in the League for the Defense of Sexual Reforms).

No one has ever seen the super report. But Kovalev’s diary was confiscated, in which he meticulously documented his sexual adventures. From the diary it followed: having acquired his first love experience at the age of fifteen, the former minister, until the spring of 1998 (it was then that the diary was confiscated), had relationships with seventy-five women. The former member of the Russian Security Council described in detail where, when, how many times, in what way; He gave the ladies ratings on a five-point scale and especially liked to note when his partner “wanted more.” Needless to say, he “met” most of the girls when he was Minister of Justice, because, knowing about his inclinations, people who wanted to please supplied already paid prostitutes. Who says that a bribe is necessarily money? By the way, of the three young ladies who had fun splashing with him in the jacuzzi, he “adopted” two and also gave them strict grades.

While in prison, Kovalev complained about his health, but categorically did not want to take tests, assuring that this “violates his bodily integrity.” In general, the investigators were about to send him for a compulsory psychiatric examination, but General Novoselov said his weighty word. Indeed, what if Valentin Alekseevich were declared insane, then all the bills adopted by the Ministry of Justice at the time when it was headed by Kovalev would be subject to cancellation, and the documents signed by him would be declared invalid. Imagine what would happen to us then!

And what a monstrous, bloody picture of life criminal Russia the end of the 90s would have been drawn if all the criminal cases, one way or another connected with the names of the banker Angelevich and the Minister of Justice Kovalev, were combined into one? This would no longer be a criminal case, but a super-thriller, where all three main plots of interest to humanity - love, money and death - are organically intertwined.

"Fallen" Angelevich

I first wrote about Arkady Angelevich and his two friends in the fall of 1996, even before she became a columnist for the “Top Secret” newspaper. The publication was called “Three Comrades Were Friends.” Indeed, they were friends. But in September 1993, one of his comrades, the head of the DIAM bank, Ilya Medkov, was shot dead with a rifle with a telescopic sight. The manager of all the loans of the deceased banker, as well as his property, including DIAM Bank, became a friend of the deceased, Arkady Angelevich. This seemed strange to many, since shortly before the murder, Ilya and Arkady quarreled over a large sum and Medkov even wanted to report Angelevich to the police.

And then Arkady quarreled with his third comrade, Dmitry Bureichenko. He was sharply different from his friends. If Angelevich and Medkov began their careers with trading in the Pragma cooperative (and DIAM, that is, dear Ilya Aleksandrovich Medkov, in general with scams with counterfeit checks “Russia”), then Dmitry - from Lubyanka. In 1991, he quickly left the KGB for commerce and became the chairman of the board of Pragmabank, and then the Unity Bank, from where approximately two hundred million dollars disappeared. Later, detectives suspected Bureichenko of theft. It was money, the lion's share of which, as detectives assure, passed from Bureychenko to Angelevich, that became the cause of their quarrel. After which Dmitry disappeared and is still somewhere on the run abroad. Most of Bureichenko's property went to his faithful friend Angelevich.

The case of Arkady Angelevich, born in 1962 in Moscow, a citizen of Russia and Israel, with a residence permit in Germany, chairman of the board of directors of JSCB Montazhspets Bank, was separated into a separate proceeding from the criminal case of his friend, Dmitry Bureichenko. The reason for its initiation on February 29, 1996 were statements to the police from clients of the Unity Bank, who reported that their deposits had been stolen, the bank had ceased to exist, and the chairman of the bank’s board had disappeared.

So, the investigation came to the conclusion that the criminal activities of Arkady Angelevich were expressed in the following.

Theft of 130,000 US dollars - funds from JSCB Montazhspets-Bank, transferred by Astek LLP to this bank as debt repayment. This plot is simple: the banker receives from the debtors part of the required amount, which he appropriates himself, and the other part, having drawn up fictitious agreements, he appropriates together with Bureichenko.

Theft of real estate with a total value of 6 million US dollars, transferred to JSCB Montazhspetsbank by creditors of AOZT Latrek and Delta LLP. The scheme is the same. From the enterprises and real estate available to the debtors, Angelevich chose the restaurants “Ivushka”, “Saigon”, “Gesser”, “Meshchera”, the Bonaparte casino, as well as Vacation home general director of the debtor companies. Angelevich registered the restaurants in the name of his proxies. No repayment of the debt was issued to JSCB Montazhspetsbank.

Theft of 5,767,102,900 rubles - funds from Unity Bank (registered as a loan repayment from JSC Norfreeze JV). The loan was repaid in the form of one hundred and ten South Korean-made cars. Most of the cars were sold, the money was embezzled.

Theft of two buildings and funds from Unity Bank for a total amount of 40,154,899,410 rubles using forged documents. As a result, Angelevich became the owner of buildings on Verkhnyaya Radishchevskaya Street and Srednyaya Pervomaiskaya Street.

Theft of 7,117,259,015 US dollars - funds from Unity Bank using fictitious assignment agreements (assignment of claims for debt collection). These machinations were carried out after the murder of Ilya Medkov. Attached to the case is a general power of attorney issued to his mother for the possession and disposal of the entire inheritance of the late Ilya. According to the testimony of Medkov’s mother, after the death of her son, Angelevich and Bureichenko became the leaders of the DIAM and DIAM-Bank association, who forced her to withdraw from the membership of other companies owned by her son.

Theft of 168,100 US dollars - funds from JSCB "Montazhspets-Bank" to pay off accounts payable.

It is curious that part of the debt was repaid at the Carousel bar (it was at this “Solntsevskaya point” on Tverskaya-Yamskaya that the famous sauna operated, where Ayagelevich arranged for Kovalev to be filmed). The loan repayment scene was also recorded on video equipment.

Another interesting touch to the portrait of the banker Angelevich. During a search conducted during his arrest, several dozen pieces of jewelry were confiscated. At the same time, it was established that Angelevich had earlier contacted the Berlin police with a statement about the theft of jewelry valued at $250 thousand from his rented apartment. When comparing the list of “stolen” with “found” in the safe of a Moscow apartment, it turned out that almost all of the jewelry was intact. Based on the fact of a false denunciation, criminal prosecution was initiated against Arkady Vladimirovich in Berlin (data about the decision taken No).

By order of Angelevich, JSCB Montazhspetsbank donated 200 thousand dollars to the fund headed by Minister of Justice Kovalev. Immediately after this I received from him a certificate of adviser to the Minister of Justice. On September 13, 1995, Angelevich organized a visit by Kovalev and his assistant Maximov to the sauna of the Carousel casino, where there were prostitutes paid in advance (not by the minister, of course). It was the banker who kept the tape at his home. Later Angelevich said: “Someday there will be a difficult moment, and the minister will help.” And also that he “holds Kovalev in his fist.” Arkady Vladimirovich, who considers himself the smartest, the richest, with the most great connections, in general, loved to collect incriminating evidence on people with whom he interacted, so in his bank many rooms were equipped with hidden listening and recording equipment.

Despite the fact that “home preparations” did not help during the investigation, the very best refused patronage, Arkady Vladimirovich still had a lot of tricks and, of course, money in stock. After two days in a common cell where seventy people slept in turns, he tried to open his veins. From the medical unit I ended up in a four-bed room with “intelligent” neighbors. I was stalling for time, trying to copy it by hand when getting acquainted with my multi-volume file. At some point, he decided to “surrender” all high-ranking patrons.

But the main miracles began in court. At first, the state prosecutor, prosecutor Khorkova, suddenly began to act as a defense attorney, declaring that she did not agree with the investigation. It is curious that Deputy Prosecutor General Mikhail Katyshev, who signed the indictment, agrees, but she, the district prosecutor, does not. Our court has never seen such “outrage of democracy.”

Next it was the turn of Judge Elena Filippova of the Presnensky Court. Of the six counts of indictment, one remained - the theft of 368 thousand dollars. In all other cases, the court considered that the charges were not confirmed, and when assessing the data about the defendant’s identity, the investigation took an accusatory bias. And in general, the participation of banks in charitable foundations does not contradict the law, therefore the question of the videotape with compromising evidence on Kovalev seized from Angelevich is beyond the scope of this investigation, etc. and so on.

They say that Angelevich spent $2.5 million to “collapse” the case...

As a result, Arkady Vladimirovich received four years without confiscation of property and served in a general regime correctional colony. But right there, in the courtroom, he was released: he had already served three and a half years in Butyrka, and half a year was “cut off” by the timely amnesty. And although the Russian Constitutional Court soon recognized a number of its provisions as “inadequate,” those who had already been released were not returned.

Someone might start talking about the supposedly “weak” position of the investigation. But there is one “but”: immediately after the announcement of this very scandalous verdict, Judge Filippova resigned, but quite soon returned and very quickly lifted the arrest imposed on Angelevich’s French villa (to pay off debts).

Arkady Vladimirovich is cheerful and full of new plans. Informed sources reported that he is now buying shares of RAO UES through front men and could become a monopolist in the Moscow energy market. Then he will show himself. However, he still has good connections.

Case of the Minister of Justice

Criminal case No. 142124 was initiated on April 28, 1998, based on materials extracted from the case of Angelevich and Co. regarding the theft of funds on a large scale by the leaders of the Fund for the Public Defense of Civil Rights. During the investigation, other crimes were also revealed: illegal storage and transportation of firearms and ammunition, coercion of witnesses to give false testimony, blackmail.

How did it all begin?

In December 1993, Valentin Kovalev, a teacher at the Correspondence Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was elected to the State Duma and soon became deputy speaker. Using his official position and, as the court has now established, “out of selfish motives, under the noble pretext of protecting rights and freedoms,” he creates his own foundation. There's a lot involved in it famous people: Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Trofimov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee (later Minister) Kalashnikov, Secretary of the State Duma Staff Shlepenkova, lawyer of the Moscow City Bar Association Govallo. The elected board of the fund appoints a director (on the recommendation of Kovalev) - Andrey Maksimov. And on January 5, 1995, Kovalev received a government position - Minister of Justice. At the same time he manages the foundation. Maksimov becomes the official assistant to the minister. The fund's "treasury" was formed through contributions. Among the “donors” are CB “Montazhspetsbank”, OJSC “Lukoil”, “Moscow Trust Bank”, “ONEXIM-Bank” group, LLC “Rial”, JSC Russian Sugar”. The fund's money (without any reporting) was spent only by Kovalev. And all his “noble” activities actually boiled down to collecting applications from citizens and supplying several tons of sugar from a sponsor to penitentiary institutions. At the expense of the fund, Kovalev published his book “Two Stalin’s People’s Commissars”, but it was never possible to sell it - unlike “The Diary”, no one was interested in this book.

Kovalev, Maksimov and the chief accountant of the fund, Valentina Kuchina, began creating fictitious companies (registered using lost passports of Russian citizens) that allegedly worked for the fund. It was a “black” cash register from where money was stolen.

In addition, the foundation paid for air tickets on the routes Moscow - Zurich and Geneva - Moscow for Kovalev’s wife and daughter, and a monument at the grave of Kovalev’s mother. He allocated four thousand dollars of “travel allowance” to Maximov, who was visiting Iran, and paid for the trips of Kovalev and Co. to tropical countries.

In June 1996, former employee of the Ministry of Justice Kuchina became the general director of the fund and, at the direction of Kovalev, developed active commercial activities. In particular, she issues a loan of 50 thousand dollars on behalf of the fund to Fort and Co. When the company owed 20 thousand dollars, Kuchina, on behalf of Kovalev, demanded repayment of the debt in the amount of 200 thousand. As soon as the preliminary investigation began, Kovalev gave Kuchina instructions to communicate with witnesses, develop a false position with them and mislead the investigation. Then Kuchina demanded confirmation that the amount of the debt was exactly 200 thousand dollars. The lady did not limit herself in the means of putting pressure on witnesses - she said that she would accuse them of joint thefts and report their scams to the investigation. Kuchina warned one of the witnesses that if she testified against her and Kovalev, she would “regret” it; she intimidated another that he would be in trouble, since Kovalev was omnipotent. At one time, Kuchina was helped by a foundation employee, Evgeniy Vasin (his corpse was discovered on January 5, 1999).

In total, members of the criminal group stole 1,029,996,000 rubles from October 15, 1994 to April 28, 1997, of which Kovalev personally embezzled 740,614,000. He did not hesitate to “take” from the fund both in “little things” (3-4 thousand dollars) and in large quantities (50-70 thousand dollars). And Kuchina brought him a monthly “additional payment” to his salary - 10 thousand dollars.

Inspired by the example of her boss, Kuchina began to engage in thefts herself. During the investigation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation received a confession from Roman Liskin, convicted of fraud, who worked at ITAR-TASS. He stated that in February 1996 he twice gave Kovalev a bribe of 20 thousand dollars for enrollment in the staff of advisers to the Minister of Justice. There were bribes in the form of apartments, land plots. It is not surprising that the minister soon became a dollar millionaire.

Of course, he stated that “the criminal case was fabricated for political reasons.” His answers during interrogation regarding the weapons and ammunition found are interesting. He received a PM pistol and 16 cartridges for it from an unfamiliar general when he went on a business trip to Chechnya. “I consider it unethical to talk about my merits, which served as the basis for issuing weapons to me,” Kovalev noted. When asked why weapons are not registered in accordance with the law, he said: “It is not difficult for me to answer this question: the system of legal arguments is obvious. But I will not do this for reasons of principle - there is no need to justify myself.”

In fact, the gun was given to him by a friend, FAPSI director Alexander Starovoytov. And although Kovalev never served in the FAPSI system, the general gave him a weapon as a reward “For services to the development of the communications system.” Considering the close relationship of both generals to the Rato Bank, where they kept their huge “savings,” one can only guess what kind of connections they had in mind. The criminal case for possession of weapons and ammunition was discontinued at the preliminary investigation stage, since Kovalev “voluntarily gave up” both the pistol and ammunition.

At the stage of the preliminary investigation, another episode was terminated - regarding the receipt of a house in the elite village of Sukhanov as a bribe. One of the witnesses in the case, Deputy Minister Agriculture Vladimir Loginov of the Russian Federation spoke about the transfer of a “charitable” contribution of 200 thousand dollars to Kovalev’s fund.

In 1993, Loginov became president of the Russian Sugar production association. In 1995, through his companion Ganykin, he met the co-owner of Flora-Moscow KB Otdelnov, who invited him to take part in the creation of the Kovalev Foundation. Since in the practice of the Russian Sugar PA there were cases of non-payment for the products they received, the idea of the fund - protecting the rights of citizens - interested Loginov. He willingly responded to Kovalev’s offer to donate 200 thousand dollars to the fund free of charge. Ganykin hinted that Kovalev would provide them with “services.”

Which? In the spring of 1995, Russian Sugar received a hundred million dollar loan from the Ministry of Finance guaranteed by the Ministry of Agriculture. The loan was never repaid, but later this did not prevent the president of Russian Sugar, Loginov, from becoming deputy minister of agriculture. It was from this loan that 600 thousand dollars were spent on the construction of a cottage for Kovalev. The Minister of Justice was capricious: he had twice already rejected the magnificent cottages that were offered to him. But he really liked Ganykin’s house, where the minister celebrated his housewarming. On December 23, 1996, Ganykin was blown up in his VOLVO car.

The construction manager, Blitshtein, testified to the investigator and said that Kovalev’s cottage was built by the Ladex company, whose owners are Loginov and Ganykin. The land plot on which the house was located was also transferred to Kovalev’s ownership free of charge.

Nevertheless, the episode about Kovalev receiving a house as a bribe was stopped at the investigation stage.

But there were other cases of receiving bribes in the form of apartments and other land plots. In August 1995, the leaders of the Moscow Collection Department (MUI) turned to Maksimov with a request to provide assistance through Kovalev in attracting criminal liability his Swiss debtor. Maksimov went to Switzerland and fulfilled the request. Kovalev, having learned that the head of the MUI manages sixteen plots in the Odintsovo district, demanded that two of them be given to him and Maksimov. As a result, Kovalev and Maksimov became owners of plots worth 12.5 thousand dollars each. Then Kovalev helped exempt collectors from paying taxes, for which Maksimov was allocated free of charge three bedroom apartment(for 33 thousand dollars), and Kovalev - a five-room apartment (for 52 thousand dollars) in a house on Aviamotornaya Street. The minister registered this apartment for his daughter. Maksimov’s actions are aggravated by the fact that the criminal group that committed the crime of bribery included a person who held a public position, that is, Kovalev. The investigation was also able to prove bribes from the fraudster Liskin, which Kovalev placed in his accounts at Angelevich’s bank.

An interesting story happened recently with Liskin - as soon as he was transferred from the colony to a free settlement, he disappeared.

Now about Kovalev’s personality. “He never hid his desire to go abroad to live - it turned into an obsessive desire,” witnesses say. He always lied convincingly. In 1996, he wrote the book “The Crucifixion of the Spirit,” where he called himself an academician, although he was not one.

As the investigation noted, “the facts of the socially immoral behavior of Kovalev, a politician and civil servant, who enters into disorderly, including group relationships with prostitutes, are proven by the testimony of witnesses, Kovalev’s personal entries in his diary, and the conclusions of a forensic examination dated January 6, 1998 on the identification of Kovalev. on a “bath” film.” Witnesses testified that they were the ones who paid for the girls in the bathhouse (and this often happened).

During the investigation, Kovalev, according to witnesses, behaved inappropriately. He said that he “was in the Kremlin, that he was encouraged and that he would soon return to big politics at top level" During a search at Kovalev’s home, ninety copies of documents constituting state secrets were found.

This is a short story about the crime. Now let's talk about punishment. The case against Valentina Kuchina, whom witnesses characterized as “greedy, greedy, living at the expense of male acquaintances,” was discontinued at the investigation stage for non-rehabilitating circumstances (after all, she actively helped the investigation). Valentin Kovalev was deprived of the honorary title of Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation and the class rank of State Counselor of Justice of the Russian Federation, Andrey Maksimov - the class rank of First Class Counselor of Justice. Both are deprived of the right to hold positions in law enforcement agencies and judicial bodies that confer authority. Maksimov was sentenced to six years in prison (suspended). I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is soon given a suspended life sentence.

Education and work

Graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University, the Higher School of Public Administration. D. F. Kennedy Harvard University (USA), Doctor of Law, Professor.

He worked at a metallurgical plant and in a rocket and space technology design bureau.

From 1976 to 1986 he taught and was engaged in scientific work at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From 1986 to 1993 - professor at the Higher Law School and the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. From 1992 to 1993 - General Director of the Legal Center of the Foundation for National and International Security.

Political activity

In December 1993, he was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of the first convocation on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, from January 1994 to January 1995 he was one of the four deputy chairmen of the State Duma, since December 1994 he headed the headquarters of the State Duma on the situation related to the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic , was a member of the Supervisory Commission for organizing the negotiation process with the Chechen Republic and chairman of the joint tripartite commission on human rights in Chechnya.

On January 5, 1995, he was appointed Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation. On January 10, 1995, he was expelled from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction in the State Duma for joining the government without the consent of the faction.

On July 2, 1997, he was dismissed from the post of minister after compromising materials were shown in the media. Earlier, the newspaper “Top Secret” published an article by Larisa Kislinskaya “And the minister is naked.” The article stated that in the safe of banker Arkady Angelevich, who was arrested on April 17, a videotape was found where Kovalev was filmed with three prostitutes in a sauna. The entry was dated September 13, 1995, and in addition to Kovalev, it featured Andrei Maksimov, a figure close to him. The footage was then shown on television.

Criminal case of Kovalev

As stated in the materials of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, more than 1 billion non-denominated rubles were stolen from the “Fund for the Public Protection of Civil Rights” created by Kovalev in 1994, of which more than 740 million were transferred to his personal accounts. In addition, “the materials of the criminal case established that Kovalev, holding the post of Minister of Justice in 1995-1997, repeatedly received large bribes, both in money and in apartments and land.”

On October 3, 2001, by decision of the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 9 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years. Kovalev and Andrey Maksimov were found guilty of theft of entrusted property and repeated receipt of large-scale bribes.

Ranks

Colonel of the Internal Service
State Counselor of Justice of the Russian Federation
Academician of the International Slavic Academy; Vice-President of the international organization “Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation”
Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation

Family and hobbies

Married, has a daughter.

He is interested in classical literature, classical music, and winter sports.

Kovalev Valentin Alekseevich, deputy of the State Duma of the first convocation (1993-1995), former president of the Foundation for the Public Defense of Civil Rights, former Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation (1995-1997)

Education:
In 1973 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow state university named after M.V. Lomonosov. Doctor of Law, Professor. He published about 200 scientific works, including several monographs, on problems of jurisprudence (organizing the activities of law enforcement agencies, ensuring the rule of law, criminal proceedings, the law of evidence, compensation for damage caused to the state and citizens by illegal actions of officials). Some of these works have been translated into foreign languages and published abroad.
Graduated from the Higher School of Public Administration named after. D.F.Kennedy Harvard University.

Professional activity:
He began working at the age of 14 - at a metallurgical plant and in a rocket and space technology design bureau. Served in
Soviet army and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Colonel of the internal service.
From 1976 to 1986 - he taught law and was engaged in scientific work at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
From 1986 to 1991 - Professor at the Higher Law School
From 1991 to 1993 - Professor at the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
From 1992 to 1993 - General Director of the Legal Center of the Foundation for National and International Security.
From 1993 to 1995 - State Duma deputy for the federal district, on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), number 14 on the list. He was a member of the Communist Party faction. On January 17, 1994, he was elected one of the four deputy chairmen of the State Duma.
Since December 1994, he has been the head of the State Duma headquarters on the situation related to the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, and a member of the Supervisory Commission for organizing the negotiation process with the Chechen Republic.
In December 1994, he was appointed chairman of the joint tripartite commission on human rights in Chechnya (Temporary Monitoring Commission for the Observance of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens), which included representatives of presidential structures and chambers Federal Assembly. Human Rights Commissioner Sergei Kovalev, who was in Chechnya at that time, was appointed as V. Kovalev’s deputy in the commission (without his consent).
From 1995 to 1997 - Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation.
On January 10, 1995, he was expelled from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction for joining an “anti-people government” without the consent of the faction.
In December 1996, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was approved as a member of the Interdepartmental Commission of the Russian Federation for the Affairs of the Council of Europe.
Since March 1997 - member of the Federal Commission on the Problems of Chechnya (removed from the Commission on July 23, 1997).
In April 1997, he became a member of the Commission under the President of the Russian Federation for interaction between federal bodies executive power and organs
state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation when carrying out constitutional and legal reform in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
At the beginning of 1999, he was appointed chief specialist of the Guild of Russian Lawyers.
In February 1999, he became the organizer of the public association "Civil Solidarity". The association included Kovalev's party
“Lawyers for Human Rights and a Decent Life”, Russian Party of Social Democracy of Alexander Yakovlev and about 50 other parties, unions and organizations.

Touches to the portrait:
In December 1994, Kovalev constantly argued for the need for the presence of troops in Chechnya. He has repeatedly stated that the commission has no evidence of violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens by Russian military personnel; noted only violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Chechnya by Dudayev’s formations.

Scandals:
On July 2, 1997, he was dismissed from the post of minister after compromising materials were shown in the media. The newspaper “Top Secret” published an article by Larisa Kislinskaya “And the minister is naked.” The article stated that in the safe of banker Arkady Angelevich, who was arrested on April 17, a videotape was found where Kovalev was filmed with three prostitutes in a sauna. The entry was dated September 13, 1995, and in addition to Kovalev, it featured Andrei Maksimov, a figure close to him. The footage was then shown on television.

In February 1999, Kovalev was arrested on charges of embezzling financial resources from a public fund under the Ministry of Justice while he was a minister, as well as illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. In August 2000, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation approved the indictment and sent a criminal case to court accusing Kovalev of accepting bribes and embezzling funds. As stated in the materials of the Investigative Committee under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, more than 1 billion non-denominated rubles were stolen from the “Fund for the Public Protection of Civil Rights” created by Kovalev in 1994, of which more than 740 million were transferred to his personal accounts. In addition, “the materials of the criminal case established that Kovalev, holding the post of Minister of Justice in 1995-1997, repeatedly received large bribes, both in money and in apartments and land.” On October 3, 2001, by decision of the Moscow City Court, he was sentenced to 9 years of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years. Kovalev and Andrey Maksimov were found guilty of theft of entrusted property and repeated receipt of large-scale bribes.
(Ex-Minister of Justice Valentin Kovalev received nine years of probation // lenta.ru, October 3, 2001)

He is the vice-president of the international organization "Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation" (PABSEC), which includes official delegations of parliaments of 11 states.
Academician of the "International Slavic Academy" (since 1993).
State Counselor of Justice of the Russian Federation.
Author of the book “Dossier of Repression” (about judicial and extrajudicial repression in many countries of the world), for which in 1990 he was awarded a diploma from the All-Union competition for the best works of popular science literature.

Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation (1996).

Awards:
Awarded by the Russian Orthodox Church the Order of Prince Daniel, 1st degree.

Married, has a daughter.
He is interested in classical literature, classical music, winter sports, and also loves to travel and work on the land.