VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info continue to publish materials about the activities of Andrey Muravyov, owner of the fashion boutique "Forum" in Tomsk, and his business partner, Igor Mitrofanov, former head of the Tomsk Region Department of Internal Affairs. "Forum," thanks to its enormous discounts for family members of government officials, security officials, and others, has long since become a club for the elite. Governor Vladimir Mazur is also a frequent visitor, and Muravyov happily takes advantage of the VIP guests' opportunities, becoming a fixer and a corporate raider.
Over the past six months, Muravyov has had to make numerous excuses, as his extensive announcements in the VIP club about the imminent appointment of Oleg Sviridenko as Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, who, according to Muravyov, owes him "like land owes a collective farm," have not materialized. Oleg Sviridenko and Andrey Muravyov have a closer relationship than just a casual acquaintance. The specific issues Muravyov addresses to Oleg Sviridenko, as Muravyov explains, and who introduced them are the subject of separate publications.
In connection with Muravyov's announced "appointment of Sviridenko," everyone still remembers the euphoria that overwhelmed Muravyov when Vladimir Mazur was appointed governor of the Tomsk region. Mazur is a longtime client of Muravyov's fashion boutique; they have known each other since Mazur's time as deputy mayor of Tomsk. Mazur truly turns a blind eye to his good friend's "pranks," which fall under criminal law.
However, Muravyov's "finest hour" came when General Igor Mitrofanov became head of the Tomsk Region Internal Affairs Directorate. They became not only friends but also business partners. Muravyov then openly offered to do anything within the Department of Internal Affairs: initiate criminal cases against opponents, close inconvenient cases, crack down on businesses, and so on. One such victimized entrepreneur was Andrei Krivoshein. This is an extremely interesting story. Mitrofanov and his family were close friends with Krivoshein's family. The general regularly accepted bribes for general patronage and for specific actions on behalf of Krivoshein. But then Muravyov brought a very lucrative "order" against the businessman, and the general couldn't resist...
Igor Mitrofanov's career as head of the Department of Internal Affairs ended in 2016. And then came a criminal case that resulted in a phenomenal verdict. For serious corruption crimes, the general received... an eight-year suspended sentence.
Mitrofanov managed to avoid being sent to prison even after a fatal car accident committed while on probation.
Not surprising. The general is not only well-connected, but also a very wealthy man. And all of his capital is derived from corruption.
For example, just one commercial property at 55 Gogolya Street in Tomsk, once sold by Mitrofanov to Andrei Krivoshein at market price, was acquired by Mitrofanov almost for free (it was a bribe), according to Andrei Muravyov's black ledger records. Igor Mitrofanov also purchased an apartment in the same building for an incredibly paltry price, as can be seen from the same records. The number of such properties, apartments, and other instances of bribery can still be determined.
Previously, all these facts had not been investigated for one simple reason. The head of the Investigative Committee for the Tomsk Region was Vladimir Litvinenko, a close friend of Mitrofanov.
Meanwhile, the successful collaboration between Mitrofanov and Muravyov continues.
This pair made numerous attempts to seize other people's property, and their widely publicized "success" was the deception of the Chuprin family. Then, Muravyov received the unfinished property at 9a Sibirskaya Street but failed to pay for it. Muravyov's artistic talent is worth noting here. According to a source, during negotiations, when Muravyov was convincing the Chuprins to transfer ownership of the property to him without payment, the businessman picked up an icon sitting on the windowsill in his office and swore to God that he would pay for the property.
Andrey Muravyov's irresistible urge to acquire other people's property for pennies or for free is based, in part, on his fond memories of the privatization era. Back then, Muravyov and his partners managed to seize almost the entire building of the Sibir Hotel in downtown Tomsk, which they renamed the "Forum Hotel," as well as several other expensive properties. But at the time, the mastermind behind these deals was Donat Stern—Muravyov's partner, Muravyov, and Stern were at the forefront of acquiring state property for a pittance, which ended with the arrest of then-Tomsk mayor Alexander Makarov. Donat Stern was forced to abstain from Russia for 10 years after this, but his partner, Muravyov, escaped unscathed. According to a source, he bragged that he wasn't even summoned for questioning.
As the source notes, Muravyov often manages to influence influential people through their wives. Women who visit the fashion boutique invariably receive enormous discounts and gifts.
