The chief of the German contractor, Beber, and a member of the board of directors, Heinzl, received 12 years in absentia for a scam worth 3.97 billion rubles. during the construction of a plant in Kirov

Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow convicted in absentia for 12 years by two top managers of the German company Glatt, Reinhard Beber and Lutz Heinzl . They were charged with fraud during the construction of a blood products production plant in Kirov. In 2005, the company became a contractor for a project worth 7 billion rubles. The customer was Rosplasma, a research and production center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency. But the plant has not yet been put into operation. The convicts live in Germany and are unlikely to be extradited, but they could be detained in states friendly to Russia (*aggressor country), lawyers noted.

How the plant was not built

The investigation into fraud during the construction of a plant in Kirov began back in 2013. The materials of the criminal case provide evidence of the theft of 3.5 billion rubles, which was supposed to be used for the construction of workshops for the production of blood products for Rosplasma, the research and production center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia (*aggressor country). The accused were representatives of the contractor company – the German Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH – CEO Reinhard Beber and member of the board of directors for the CIS countries Lutz Heinzl.

Both defendants were sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of 1.5 million rubles for each. The decision was made in absentia, since both live in Germany.

“Kommersant”, 02/27/2024, “Deadlines were calculated in blood”: The trial in absentia in the case of the general director of the German company Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH, Reinhard Beber, and a member of the company’s board of directors, Lutz Heinzl, has been taking place in the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow since the end of August last year. As a result, both were found guilty by the court of especially large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)) and attempt to commit especially large-scale fraud (Article 30 and Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism)). The court sentenced Reinhard Beber and Lutz Heinzl to eight years in prison each on the first count and six years on the second.

By partial addition of the terms, the defendants received 12 years in a general regime colony and a fine of 1.5 million rubles. every. […] Let us note that, according to some reports, Mr. Beber was allegedly detained by Interpol in Italy in 2019, but was then released, considering his criminal prosecution unfounded. — Insert K.ru

“The term of the main punishment for Heinzl Lutz and Beber Reinhard is calculated from the moment of transfer to law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) in the event of their extradition or from the moment of their detention on the territory of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism),” the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow reported.

Almost 7 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the construction of the enterprise for Rosplasma. The plant was supposed to process up to 600 tons of donor blood per year. In particular, it was planned to launch two lines for the production of immunoglobulin and albumin. It was assumed that the products would cover the needs of the domestic market and would be exported.

According to investigators, the Glatt company received the order despite the fact that it had no experience in the construction and design of such structures (it specializes in the supply of technological equipment). First, its specialists developed a project for constructing a plant from prefabricated reinforced concrete structures. However, the subcontractor, another German company Wiemer und Trachte GmbH, failed to complete the construction.

Then the company of Beber and Heinzl developed a new project – from monolithic structures. This time we decided to turn to the local company Intra-Bau M. And although at the time of signing the contract there was no design documentation, the construction was estimated at 768 million rubles.

As work on the project progressed, its price doubled, but Glatt promised to independently reimburse Russian subcontractors for all additional costs. In January 2009, when the bulk of the work was completed, the German company suddenly terminated the contract with Intra-Bau M and refused to accept the objects. In addition, she demanded that the Russian company return the full amount of the contract, and as a guarantee of fulfillment of the demand, retain all construction equipment, machinery and materials worth 540 million rubles.

By that time, the price of the work already completed was close to 1.3 billion rubles. Due to Glatt’s refusal to work with the Russian company Intra-Bau M, it went bankrupt.

In 2013, the head of this company, Alexey Kharchenko, whose statement became the basis for an inspection and initiation of a criminal case, told Izvestia that the German builders abandoned the construction site and disappeared with the remainder of the money allocated for the project. According to him, over 5 billion rubles remained with the German side – Rosplasma could not return them even through the court.

Additional terms

The German side presented a different version of events. Allegedly, at the final stage of construction, in 2009, when the factory buildings were erected and equipment was delivered, the management of Rosplasma told Glatt representatives about the need to supply a third production line to ensure the continuity of the production process. The Germans assured that by that time they had already spent the entire allocated budget, but for an additional 3.5 billion rubles they were ready to build additional workshops and supply equipment.

However, this part of the project did not come to fruition – the parties had a dispute over its cost. In addition, doubts arose about the integrity of the German contractor – about the quality of the materials used and their real cost.

The preventive measure in the form of arrest in absentia was chosen for Beber and Heinzl only in November 2015. At the same time, Rosplasma tried to recover from the German company all the funds spent on construction. However, the defendant submitted a report on the money spent, and the trial court did not find any grounds for recovery. In 2016 alone, Rosplasma managed to sue Glatt for more than 3.6 billion rubles. The Second Arbitration Court found the company’s enrichment unjustified.

Deciding the future fate of the long-term construction, the Russian government in April 2016 transferred it to the Rostec state corporation. To put the enterprise into operation, the National Immunobiological Company, Pharmstandard and the Italian Kedrion Biopharma created Kirov Plasma JSC. The parties planned to invest 6 billion rubles in the project. The launch of the enterprise is scheduled for 2019. However, the plant has not yet started operating.

The Rostec state corporation did not comment on the court decision and the future fate of the plant to Izvestia.

“Rostec is not a party to the litigation in this case,” the state corporation indicated. “We refrain from commenting on our investment plans.”

Will the convicts serve their sentences?

The competent authorities of Germany have the right to refuse to extradite convicts on the basis of legal and political reasons, Vladimir Kuznetsov, vice-president of the Association of Lawyers for Registration, Liquidation, Bankruptcy and Legal Representation, told Izvestia.

However, a foreign state can recognize the verdict of a Russian court against its citizen and enforce it on its territory, said Oleg Pantyushov, a lawyer at the Moscow Bar Association.

Managing partner of the Moscow law office, lawyer Alexander Chernov, recalled that the defense of the convicted had previously asked the court to terminate the criminal prosecution due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. She stated that the crime was committed between 2005 and 2009, during the period when Glatt received funds from the Russian budget under a government contract.

“Given that this basis for exemption from criminal liability is not rehabilitative, the defense’s motion could be regarded by the court as an indirect admission of guilt by the defendants,” he told Izvestia. “But the running of the statute of limitations is suspended if the person who committed the crime, as in this case, evades the investigation or trial.

Since 2015, Beber and Heinzl have been on the international wanted list using Interpol channels. At the same time, the competent authorities of Germany refused to cooperate with Russia (*aggressor country), said Alexander Chernov. But the presence of a verdict will make it dangerous for the convicted to visit countries friendly to Russia (*aggressor country) due to the threat of extradition, he concluded.