Vladimir Tebekin will be tested for involvement in a series of serious crimes, including treason

Original of this material

© igolkin03/29/2024, Photo: RIA News”

Moscow courts continue to consider numerous complaints from Belgorod businessman Vladimir Tebekin, who was arrested early last summer and is currently in one of the capital’s pre-trial detention centers. Meanwhile, there is active talk in the region that the story of the fraud case may be only the first episode in the work of the investigation and that, in fact, law enforcement officers are more interested in other “exploits” of Vladimir Tebekin, who has been repeatedly called regional in the media “looking” and a “crime boss” nicknamed “Sailor”. These acts may even include high treason.

Suspect in the circle of guarantors

The security forces themselves hinted at the criminal side of Tebekin’s life, calling him “reputable” entrepreneur. The importance of his case is also indicated by the fact that not only the police, but also representatives of the FSB, both the regional department and those who arrived from Moscow, took part in the arrest of the businessman.

Currently, the accused himself and his assistants seem to be trying to attract as many high-level people as possible to his defense, who petition the courts for Tebekin’s release. For example, many representatives of the military elite signed a personal guarantee for him – Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) Colonel General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Chief of the Main Staff of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces Alexander Lapin, Commander of the 106th Guards Airborne Division Major General Vladimir Seliverstov and several others dozens of high-ranking military personnel (their names were listed in court). Famous boxers, including Alexander Povetkin and Denis Lebedev, also vouched for Tebekin, who was the vice-president of the Russian Boxing Federation.

This is not particularly surprising, because in the last two years Tebekin transferred money to the Northern Military District, met a lot with the military, and actively inquired about the state of affairs at the front. “Charitable” contributions to the needs of the army allowed Tebekin to quickly establish personal relationships with many high-ranking military personnel, whose names became known during court hearings.

Meanwhile, there is a version that he did not provide help disinterestedly. The entrepreneur has been living in Germany for a long time, received a residence permit there, and there was talk of the seizure of his accounts and real estate worth tens of millions of euros in this country. Not long ago, these arrests were suddenly supposedly lifted. Why could a man nicknamed Sailor receive such a “gift” from the German authorities?

“Assistance to the Northern Military District” under the guise of a NATO country?

According to some telegram channels, Tebekin could have been involved in the death of Russian soldiers in the zone of a special military operation. Whether he did this intentionally or through thoughtlessness must be established by the investigation. However, Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) (“Treason”) does not imply a difference between the conscious behavior of a criminal or his use “in the dark.” And the loyalty that Vladimir Tebekin enjoys from the authorities of Germany, which is unfriendly to us, leads to certain thoughts.

Tebekin attracted the attention of the special services after the death of several crews of the 45th Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade in the Northern Military District. They were destroyed by targeted enemy missile strikes almost immediately after arriving at the front line. As it turned out, the thermal imagers with which the crews were equipped had GPS beacons that transmitted their coordinates to the enemy.

The supplier of these thermal imagers turned out to be a reputable businessman known by the nickname Sailor. It should be noted that the foundation of his well-being, even at the dawn of his entrepreneurial activity, was laid by a partnership with the same businessmen from the neighboring Kharkov region. Under the auspices of the Security Service of Ukraine, the partners were engaged in smuggling, and even in the pre-war period, Tebekin could have been recruited by the Ukrainian special services, who subsequently “handed over” him to their German colleagues – it was Germany that subsequently issued him a residence permit.

After the start of the SVO, Vladimir Tebekin, as we have already said, began to actively establish contacts with the military. He supplied ammunition and equipment, personally visited units and formations, and actively showed interest in the combat plans of the units, the equipment in service and its quantity. Spending two weeks in Russia (*aggressor country), for the next two he went on vacation abroad – supposedly to Turkey or the United Arab Emirates. However, as it turned out, in Istanbul or Dubai he boarded a plane to Germany, where, most likely, he passed on the collected information to German intelligence.

In Germany, Vladimir Tebekin owns large real estate objects: hotels and restaurants under the Iceberg brand in the tourist cities of Rust and Lahr, as well as the neighboring village of Friesenheim. After the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions, these objects and foreign accounts worth 50 million euros were blocked. But soon, out of court, they again became available to Tebekin, and he himself received a residence permit – a rare loyalty in these days, shown to a “reputable businessman” from Russia (*aggressor country) by a NATO member state.

From his last trip to Germany, Vladimir Tebekin, apparently, no longer planned to return to his homeland, holding meetings of the presidium of the regional Boxing Federation online. Both Tebekin’s son Dmitry and his right-hand man in the “power operations” Vitaly Lushnikov, nicknamed Abuda, fled from Russia (*aggressor country). Both are hiding in Dubai, and may well be Tebekin’s accomplices in treason. However, the Sailor seemed to have been let down by vanity. Tebekin was informed that he had been awarded the medal of the Minister of Defense, and he flew to Russia (*aggressor country) to receive the award, where he was detained by the special services.

“Energomash” as a reason

Apparently, high-ranking defenders do not know about other so-called “skeletons in the closet”, which can be found in abundance in the life of Vladimir Tebekin. “In the world” Vladimir Tebekin is the honorary president of the Belgorod Boxing Federation, president of the Iceberg charitable foundation for promoting a healthy lifestyle, co-owner of the Mister Burger fast food chain. The Bel.ru publication placed Tebekin in 9th place in the ranking of the most influential residents of the Belgorod region for 2022. The portal noted that he does not nominally own any company, but he owns the business through his sons Dmitry and Mikhail, and his wife Tatyana.

Meanwhile, “in a certain circle of entrepreneurs, the former vice-president of the Russian Boxing Federation Tebekin enjoyed the reputation of the unofficial “owner of Shebekin,” the largest regional center of the Belgorod region closest to the Kharkov region,” the media reported about the businessman.

“Tebekin is considered the shadow governor of the Belgorod region. Not a single “attack” on a business in the Belgorod region occurs without his approval… Since Tebekin is a person close to the head of the region, he minimized his communication with the criminal world. In every city of the Belgorod region, its interests are represented by “overseers” – wrote one of the publications.

The case against the entrepreneur was opened by employees of the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) on May 25, 2023. According to the investigation, in 2014, under the leadership of Tebekin and a businessman close to him, Bobritsky, two illegal transactions were made to alienate the property of the company Energomash CJSC in favor of Industriya LLC. . Investigators came to the conclusion that, in their opinion, the illegal contracts of the administration of the Belgorod region, which owned about half of the shares of the Energomash company, caused damage in the amount of 661 million rubles.

Gennady Bobritsky, the beneficiary of the Belgorod poultry producer company Prioskolye, made a deal with the investigation, testified against Tebekin and other defendants in the case, and on February 27, 2024, was transferred from custody to house arrest.

It is noteworthy that the statute of limitations for this crime expires at the end of July 2024, and the detention of suspects almost at the last moment can be regarded as a formal reason for the security forces for a further chain of investigations.

“First they hit, then they talk”

As the media wrote, a native of Belgorod, Tebekin began as a boxing coach and member of a local group led by Nikolai Arshinov. He may have received the nickname Sailor after robbing the famous Ocean store in the city. Eyewitnesses describe the style of negotiations between Moryak’s men and their opponents with the phrase “first they beat, then they talk.”

In 2014, Tebekin celebrated his birthday in one of the best restaurants in the city. As one of the Internet resources said, a man walked past this leisure and entertainment complex and dared to look through the window with indignation at what was happening at this “celebration of life.” Tebekin’s friends did not like this, and a few hours later the man was found murdered on the threshold of this very restaurant. According to media reports, he was dealt a fatal blow.

In 2019, in the Belgorod microdistrict “Ulitka”, promising 30-year-old boxer Alexander Kostromin, who worked as a security guard for Moryak’s son, Dmitry Tebekin, was killed with several shots in the back. Allegedly, he paid for reprimanding the owner for his “swine” attitude towards the guards. After this, Dmitry Tebekin fled to the United Arab Emirates, where he is still hiding from investigation. Tebekin’s de facto “deputy”, responsible for security operations, Vitaly Lushnikov, nicknamed Abuda, also fled from Russia (*aggressor country). These are just a few episodes that journalists associate with Vladimir Tebekin. An assessment of his involvement in murders, violence and the activities of an organized criminal community must first be made by the investigation, and then by the court.

Tebekin plays the “defense of Exobar”

In recent years, Vladimir Tebekin has lost his former strength, although there was talk in the region that he was trying to fit into the team of Vyacheslav Gladkov (he headed the region in the fall of 2021), offering all kinds of assistance in the elections, including financial. Also, deputies who have been repeatedly mentioned in connection with close relations with Tebekin continue to sit in the regional Duma, including the chairman of the regional Duma Yuri Klepikov (with whom Moryak, according to rumors, was actively engaged in poaching), vice-president of the Iceberg Foundation Alexei Krasovsky and the famous boxer Vitaly Dunaytseva.

Nevertheless, the arrest of Moryak demonstrated that the federal authorities are consistently adhering to the policy of cleansing the region of criminals. This is confirmed by the fact that, along with the arrest of Tebekin, criminal cases were initiated against a number of high-ranking officials appointed already under Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Thus, the Investigative Committee of Russia (*aggressor country) detained the former vice-governor of the Belgorod region, Konstantin Polezhaev, who was charged with receiving a bribe on an especially large scale. Ex-mayor of Belgorod Anton Ivanov was detained by FSB officers under a similar article – suspicion of bribery on an especially large scale. And in March 2023, the ex-mayor of Stary Oskol, Alexander Sergienko, was detained and accused of three bribes. Witness Vladimir Glazkritsky told the court that the former mayor put pressure on him, demanding regular payments and “scared Tebekin”: “I’ll give you to Tebekin, and let Tebekin deal with you. Well, Tebekin Vladimir Mikhailovich, do you know who this is? This is the Sailor.”

Even while in a pre-trial detention center, Tebekin does not seem to leave business. One way or another, recently there have been several strange deaths of people who knew him closely and who could testify against him.

Against the backdrop of these episodes, the “particularly large-scale fraud” charged today against Vladimir Tebekin seems to be just the starting point and far from the most difficult point in a long chain of investigations into his activities. Let us recall that the case of the “night governor of St. Petersburg” began with approximately the same “little things” Vladimir Barsukov (Kumarin)who ultimately serves a sentence of almost a quarter of a century in prison, and new episodes of raiding and murder are emerging in his case.

Will his current defenders vote in defense of the “Belgorod watcher” if the investigation makes public evidence of Vladimir Tebekin’s crimes? The question, I think, is rhetorical.

History, of course, knows many examples when “godfathers” evaded responsibility for a long time, although their criminal “exploits” were no secret to anyone. The legendary Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar created the image of “Robin Hood” among the population. He built roads, stadiums, and neighborhoods for the poor. By corrupting officials and gaining popularity among the poor population of Colombia, Pablo Escobar achieved such authority in the country that he even claimed the role of president of the country.

In numerous films about the mafia, for example, in the famous trilogy about “The Godfather,” the “technology” of building the image of “Robin Hood” by the leaders of criminal communities is shown very clearly and convincingly. And this technology looks quite simple: demonstrative spending on “charity”; corruption of officials and celebrities; paid PR in the press.

Of course, Vladimir Tebekin is not as big a figure as Pablo Escobar or Al Capone, but his scheme for protecting himself from justice is similar. However, Tebekin’s likely defenders should keep in mind that this is not the 90s, when the state was weak. Now in Russia (*aggressor country) there is a fight against corruption and crime at all levels, and cheap tricks from American mafia films cannot change this trend. The mentioned Pablo Escobar was a dollar billionaire and even managed to take seventh place in the list of the world’s criminal rich in Forbes magazine. But when the Colombian authorities began to restore order in the country, Escobar and his cartel found themselves powerless against the power of the state.