Murder victims’ relatives seek almost $20 million in lawsuit against former Khabarovsk governor

The relatives of two men allegedly murdered in contract killings arranged by Sergey Furgal are seeking 1.5 billion rubles ($19.7 million) in damages from the former Khabarovsk governor. According to the news agency Interfax, Moscow’s City Court designated the family members of Oleg Bulatov and Alexander Smolsky as civil plaintiffs in the case. 

Furgal was removed from office earlier this year after he was arrested for organizing the murders of two businessmen in 2004 and 2005 and the attempted murder of another business rival during the same period. 

In July 2020, a Moscow court seized two cars registered to Furgal and 3 million rubles ($39,330) in cash found during a search. If Furgal is convicted, these assets will be used to pay compensation to the murder victims’ relatives.

On September 21, Moscow’s City Court also formally allowed state investigators to charge Sergey Furgal with orchestrating businessman Evgeny Zorya’s murder, as well. The authorities had run into trouble here because local prosecutors investigating Zorya’s death closed their case against Furgal more than 16 years ago.