Rostov judges sentenced to prison terms and multi-million dollar fines

Former chairperson of the Rostov Regional Court Elena Zolotareva was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a fine of 170 million rubles, and her deputy was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a fine of 120 million. The court found two more defendants to be intermediaries in the transfer of bribes, while a fifth defendant escaped punishment by signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on December 5, the prosecutor demanded a sentence of 20 years in prison for former Rostov Regional Court Chair Elena Zolotareva, 18 years for her deputy Tatyana Yurova, 7 years for former head of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Rostov-on-Don Georgy Bondarenko, 10 years for former head of the Rostov Region Judicial Department, and 10 years for former head of the Rostov Region Judicial Department Andrei Roshchevsky.

The Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar found Elena Zolotareva, Tatyana Yurova, Andrei Roshchevsky, and Georgy Bondarenko guilty, the joint press service of the courts of Krasnodar Krai reported today.

The court concluded that during 2022, Zolotareva, while chairperson of the Rostov Regional Court, received bribes "with the mediation and complicity of the other defendants."

"Thus, with the mediation of Roshchevsky and the person against whom proceedings were suspended due to his conclusion of a contract with the Ministry of Defense, Zolotareva received a bribe in the amount of "5,000,000 rubles for changing the sentence to a more lenient one; through Yurova's mediation, Zolotareva received a bribe of 10,000,000 rubles to overturn the sentence and return the criminal case to the prosecutor," the press service's Telegram channel stated.

Furthermore, according to the court, Yurova and Zolotareva received two bribes of 2 million rubles each: one for overturning a trial court decision and satisfying the plaintiff's claims under loan agreements, and the second for denying an appeal in a civil case regarding the division of marital property.

The court also found that Yurova and Zolotareva received two bribes of one million rubles each: for a decision in a case regarding the recovery of funds under a loan agreement and for overturning a court decision in a claim against the Rostov-on-Don administration regarding the preservation of a non-residential building under reconstruction.

"With the mediation of Bondarenko "Zolotareva accepted a bribe of 400,000 rubles to uphold the trial court's decision to grant the motion to commute her sentence," the statement noted.

The court sentenced Elena Zolotareva to 15 years in a general regime penal colony and a fine of 170 million rubles. She was also stripped of her honorary title "Veteran of Labor" and state award.

The court sentenced Tatyana Yurova to 13 years in a general regime penal colony and a fine of 120 million rubles. Georgy Bondarenko was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal colony and a fine "in the amount of ten times the bribe, or 4,000,000 rubles."

All money received by the convicted as bribes was confiscated.

The court sentenced Andrei Roshchevsky to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony "with a fine in the amount of ten times the bribe, or 50,000,000 rubles." Roshchevsky was also stripped of his honorary title of "Veteran of Labor" and his class rank in justice. "All money received by the convicted as bribes has been confiscated by the court and transferred to the state," the publication states.

The criminal prosecution of Rostov judges will not lead to a mass review of their sentences, but the convicted can challenge them in the Qualification Collegium of Judges, according to lawyers previously interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot."