The court released former vice-president of Russian Railways Akulov from house arrest

The former vice-president for passenger transportation of Russian Railways, Mikhail Akulov, and the head of SvZhD Laundry LLC, Andrei Voronin, were released from house arrest, having been banned from committing certain actions. This decision was made by the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow.

“The court granted the investigation’s request to select a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions against A.V. Voronin and M.P. Akulov,” the statement says. It is also noted that both defendants did not agree with this preventive measure and filed an appeal against it.

Akulov and Voronin were arrested in February 2023. Akulov is charged with fraud on an especially large scale and embezzlement on an especially large scale, while Voronin is charged only with embezzlement. After this, in July 2023, both were transferred from the pre-trial detention center to house arrest.

According to investigators, the accused stole 330.5 million rubles using Akulov’s official position. The investigation points to two agreements – a service agreement dated April 20, 2010 and an investment agreement dated December 29, 2012. The investigation believes that both agreements were either not fulfilled, or the conditions in them were initially unfavorable. According to the Kommersant newspaper, the investigation was carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, the prosecutor’s office refused to approve the indictment and returned the case for further investigation. Both defendants deny their guilt.