“The generals with whom the treaties were concluded know me.” Supplier of body armor for the Ministry of Defense accused of fraud

Russian businessman Andrei Esipov, head of GC Piket LLC, was accused of fraud in fulfilling a contract for the supply of body armor to the Russian Ministry of Defense. About it reports “Kommersant”.

The investigation suspects the entrepreneur of fraud amounting to two billion rubles: according to their version, the customer overpaid and did not receive products that met the terms of the contract.

The investigator spoke about three prosecution witnesses

An investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation stated during a court hearing that Esipov and a number of other defendants are suspected of a particularly large-scale fraud – the theft of two billion rubles from the Ministry of Defense during the implementation of a contract for the manufacture and supply of 20 thousand body armor and “tiles” for troops participating in a special military operation ( SVO) in Ukraine.

The investigator stated that three prosecution witnesses gave relevant testimony. He also requested the most severe preventive measure, since Esipov, according to him, could escape or would put pressure on the participants in the investigation using his connections.

A representative of the Prosecutor General's Office also spoke in favor of Esipov's arrest.

The accused did not admit guilt and stated that he was slandered

Esipov stated that he did not admit guilt and did not understand the essence of the accusation. According to him, the contract was fully implemented, and in one of the military units, an examination confirmed the quality of the products.

“The generals with whom the agreements were concluded know me, but they didn’t let me call them,” he complained and added that high-ranking military officers would vouch for him. The accused also recalled that before the investigation he was in the SVO zone and had nowhere to run.

According to Esipov, he supplied the Ministry of Defense with products worth 300 million rubles free of charge, and profit is not important to him. He also stated that the charges were based on information provided by former employees of the company who were fired due to embezzlement. Esipov claims that they threatened him with criminal prosecution and demanded compensation of 300 million rubles.

The court sent Esipov to a pre-trial detention center for two months, and a similar decision was made against two more company managers.