More than $12.4 million, plus real estate, seized from former Russian Presidential Property Management Department officials

A St. Petersburg court upheld a ruling requiring former officials from Russia’s Presidential Property Management Department and associated individuals to forfeit over 1.3 billion rubles (approximately $12.4 million), along with 14 apartments and 118 non-residential properties in Moscow, reported Kommersant.

The case focused on allegations that luxury housing, built on the site of an unfinished medical facility, was improperly allocated to private individuals. Prosecutors claimed that former department deputy heads Sergey Kovalev and Ivan Malyushin divided the properties between the state and private investors, transferring apartments, offices, and parking spaces to their relatives. Most of these properties were later sold. Prosecutors also sought to nullify the ownership contracts of investors.

Defense attorneys condemned the rulings, arguing that they “contradict the position of Russia’s Constitutional Court.” They intend to appeal.