Moscow court to begin trial of 17-million-dollar theft case.

MOSCOW, May 27 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow's Taganka court on Thursday will
begin a preliminary hearing of the case against lawyer Yevgeny Skoblikov,
accused of stealing 6 million dollars and 7 million euros from the
inheritance of Siberian pensioners.
Under the Russian legislation, this stage of the legal proceedings is
held behind closed doors. The court will settle procedural issues of the
upcoming trial and set the date for hearings on the merits.
Earlier reports said Skoblikov had fully admitted his guilt and asked
for reviewing his case under special procedure - without examining the
evidence and the questioning of witnesses -- which is a mitigating
circumstance.
According to the case materials, Skoblikov, on September 23, 2009,
received from the Rovbel family a letter of attorney to represent their
interests at commercial banks and the Savings Bank. Under the letter of
attorney, he had to receive the money due to them after the death of their
son.
In late October, he withdrew six million dollars and seven million
euros at the Savings Bank's central office in Moscow.
However, Skoblikov had no intention to honor his obligation to
transfer the money to the Rovbel's accounts or hand over cash to them. He
decided to misappropriate the money, according to the investigators.
On October 26, he faked a money theft in an apartment in Volgogradsky
Prospekt Street, Moscow, which he reported to law-enforcement bodies.
He was detained on October 27, and on October 31, Moscow's Kuzminki
court sanctioned his arrest.
The defendant told the court that after the death of entrepreneur
Rovbel, who had engaged in construction, his parents came into an
inheritance. The businessman's father asked Skoblikov to secretly ferry
the cash from Moscow to Novosibirsk, because if somebody learned that the
elderly people came into possession of a sum that big, they would become a
subject of close criminal attention.
Skoblikov said the entrepreneur's father had promised him a three-room
apartment in the center of the city for his services.
He also said he felt like he was being chased as he was ferrying the
money in Moscow. He then went to a notary to draw a power of attorney, to
secure the right to withdraw the money from bank cell, but when he
returned to his apartment, he found that the suitcases where he had kept
the money were empty, although there were no signs of burglary. Skoblikov
said his friends in Moscow had helped him with his cash ferrying mission.
The investigators questioned Skoblikov's friends as well.
On March 18, 2010, after plea bargain, he led police to the hiding
place in Lobnya, Moscow region, where he had kept the money.
The police found three huge bags with cash, massing some 70 kilograms.
The confiscated seven million euros and 6.29 million dollars were handed
over to the injured party.
Skoblikov was charged with grand fraud, which is punished by five to
10 years in prison and a possible fine of up to one million roubles.