This summer, exactly 25 years have passed since the murder of the general director of FC Spartak Larisa Nechaeva. The era of the 90s, and the 2000s in domestic football is truly bloody. The hopelessness is that the "hand of justice" never got close to the real investigation of crimes in the game loved by the people.
And law enforcement officers do not "itch".
One of the main customers of the murder of the general director of FC Spartak Larisa Nechayeva, the investigation called the vice-president of the club Grigory Yesaulenko. But, to this day, the point in the investigation and capture of criminals has not been set ...
Details are in the investigation, which was prepared for the telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info by a well-known sports journalist, author of books about football Alexei Matveev.
BLOODY SUNDAY
The murder of the former general director of Spartak, Larisa Nechaeva, has become, of course, one of the loudest, most cynical and cruel in the football world. It is in the near-football, you can’t say otherwise.
It seemed that nothing foreshadowed, at least outwardly, such a stunning denouement. On the eve of the monstrous execution, on June 14, 1997, the Spartak team hosted a team of Nizhny Novgorod railwaymen in the regular championship match at the capital's Lokomotiv stadium.
In the room under the stands, shortly before the game, we crossed paths with Larisa Gennadievna. I couldn’t imagine that the last time… “Why haven’t you visited our club for a long time?” - said the CEO. I got off with a phrase on duty, they say, and without "Spartak" there is a lot of work, I'll call in sometime later.
In principle, the relationship with her was at the level of "hello - goodbye." Didn't aspire for more. He always kept his distance, not only with representatives of the "red-whites". Although Spartak has been and probably remains my favorite team since childhood. I was born in a truly Spartak region - Sokolniki.
But when I was a reporter, it was the Spartacists who got the “nuts” from me. Criticized harshly, sometimes categorically. He made a lot of enemies. The same leaders of Spartak could not communicate with me for months. Due to sharp, topical publications. But that's their problem, not mine.
... At the end of the mentioned match between Spartak and Nizhny Novgorod Lokomotiv, Nechaeva herself and a company of people close to the Spartak boss went to her dacha in the village of Taratino, Vladimir Region. Chat in an informal setting, relax, drink beer. Why not?
That same evening we sat down well - drank, ate. As follows from the materials of the criminal case, at 12 noon on June 15, Larisa Nechaeva, together with her friend Zoya Rudzate, went by car for another portion of alcohol. On the way back, they were already accompanied by a red-orange "Moskvich". And in it, as it turned out, the killers.
A "warm" conversation ensued in Larisa's house. The killers from the threshold told the future victim that her murder was ordered. But she can pay off a solid sum, according to them, one hundred thousand dollars. Then maybe they will “pardon” her.
Nechaeva promised to satisfy the demands of the raiders. With her, there was no such amount in the dacha village. Return to Moscow, immediately pay. In response, fatal shots followed.
The general director of the "red-whites" was shot at about two o'clock in the afternoon. The bullets hit the stomach and head, it was not possible to survive after shooting at close range. Larisa's friend, Zoya Rudzate, also received bullets in her face and head. Nechaeva's brother, Gennady Sorokin, was wounded in the neck and right forearm, he miraculously survived.
Another member of the company, Valentin Polyakov, was incredibly lucky. He slept peacefully in the bathhouse of the country house, without even hearing the fatal shots. Valentin called an ambulance and the police, when the bloody Gennady Sorokin finally shouted to his friend. As the general director of Spartak, Larisa Nechaeva worked for less than three years ...
ALLERGIC FLIGHT
Perhaps the most striking thing in this story is that the identity of the killers became known to the investigation immediately. Gennady Sorokin, who survived the massacre, recognized the faces of the criminals from sketches. This is a certain Aleksey Zdor, who had no previous convictions, and Vladimir Tenoshvili, who served two terms of imprisonment. The more experienced Tenoshvili guided his comrade's hand to live "targets". The killers are the same age, at that time they were only 26 years old. Natives of the town of Lytkarino near Moscow.
The search for killers, oddly enough at first glance, did not produce results. Although they, judging by the operational data in the materials of the criminal case, were not particularly hidden.
“Ambush was organized by the staff of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vladimir Region and the Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Lytkarino,” A. Lavrukhin, head of the criminalistics department of the Vladimir Regional Prosecutor's Office, reported to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. - When working out communications, the following was established: according to the testimony of Chebusheva Elizaveta Borisovna, who lives in the city of Lytkarino, Tenoshvili was last seen on June 17 driving a Mercedes. Prior to this, Tenoshvili, together with Chebusheva, drove around Lytkarino in a VAZ-2108 car.
So, just a couple of days after the shots at Nechaeva and her friends, one of the criminals easily, freely traveled around a small town where almost everyone knows each other. It seems that the "thugs" were not going to run away anywhere. Awesome! Although, of course, for such an act they "shone" for a long time.
Apparently, the "police ambushes" did not work.
Also, as recorded in the survey report on the work done to solve the murder of L. Nechaeva, on the same day after the execution, at 16:15, Tenoshvili was taken by his father to the Lytkarino hospital. He was admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of allergy. The next morning, during the round, the "allergic" was no longer found in a hospital bed.
When investigators checked especially close ties at the place of residence, it was established that Tenoshvili's cohabitant, Irina Karpenko, on June 22, 1997, flew to Krasnodar on flight number 1139 with a young man who, according to signs, is very similar to the wanted murderer Larisa Nechaeva. However, neither the killer nor the aforementioned Karpenko were found in Krasnodar.
Meanwhile, traces of his partner, Alexei Zdor, were lost somewhere in Sochi. Then, according to eyewitnesses, both criminals were seen in Dagestan and Chechnya. Of course, someone helped them a lot to cover their tracks. It seems that in many respects this is the “merit” of the brave policemen and prosecutors of the Vladimir region, on the territory of which the tragedy occurred.
LATE WITH SECURITY
Here are some excerpts from the materials of the criminal case on the fact of the murder of Larisa Nechaeva. Her closest associates were interrogated. For example, the head coach and at that time also the president of the club Oleg Romantsev.
“Nechaeva has not shown any anxiety, concern for her health and life lately,” Oleg Ivanovich claimed. - I rarely met her. I'm in the office a couple of times a month. Trainings, matches, trips ... I completely trusted Nechaeva to conduct business as a specialist, and did not delve into, much less, did not interfere in her work. I see no reason to kill Larisa on the basis of professional activity. Audits of the financial condition of the team did not reveal significant violations.
In fact, the murder of Larisa Nechaeva is another “nail” in the coffin of the national team. The main undertaker of the native club was, in my opinion, just the eminent domestic coach Oleg Romantsev. Previously, he made a name for himself on the football field, as a solid defender under the guidance of the famous mentor Konstantin Beskov. Behind the edge of the field - as a coach, having won prestigious trophies with the team. But on the sidelines, he could not withstand the pressure of representatives of crime, inviting them to work in the most popular club in the country.
It was Romantsev who persuaded Yuri Shlyapin to step down from the post of president of the club, arguing that otherwise the players would start leaving the team en masse. The underlying reason is as follows: they say, Shlyapin is not a modern manager, he cannot negotiate with the players. Therefore, we run the risk of being left without leading masters.
But it was under Romantsev, who took the reins of government into his own hands, that Spartak found itself on the brink of an abyss. The exodus from the team, often unjustified, of the best masters began and continued, and club finances “sang romances”.
Now, having documentary information, I draw an unambiguous conclusion. The Spartak bosses of the 90s and early 2000s, selling off their best craftsmen, shamelessly stuffed their own pockets with crisp banknotes. I really didn’t want to touch my own personal accounts in foreign banks, where the millions of currency they had stolen from the team’s performances in the Champions League, UEFA Cup “settled” (I will definitely give the details).
Talented players were frantically merged to the side to make ends meet for the team. We are talking about salary, the cost of flights, hotel accommodation, etc. People of an openly criminal persuasion have firmly settled in Spartak. Romantsev, on the other hand, invariably flaunted: he himself brought them into a glorious team. Like, his newly-minted associates have a reputation as respectable businessmen.
Meanwhile, the team was dying before our eyes, first of all, in personnel and financial relations. As a result, she slipped into shameful places for herself in the final standings of the Russian championship.
The same financial violations that Oleg Ivanovich mentioned during interrogation about the murder of his comrade-in-arms turned out to be so "insignificant" ... That in March 2003, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, on the proposal of the Federal Tax Police Service of the country, opened a criminal case against the entire leadership of "Spartak" . Club President Oleg Romantsev, his deputy Grigory Esaulenko, CEO Yuri Zavarzin and chief accountant Pavel Panasenko.
The main claims of the tax authorities are tax evasion on an especially large scale. Spartak's managers, in the process of all kinds of manipulations, in other words, machinations, owed the treasury more than $1.5 million at that time. And, of course, they were in no hurry to pay taxes.
Strangely, only one Esaulenko was charged within the "criminal quartet". Romantsev, Zavarzin, Panasenko were witnesses in the case. As often happens in Russia, the investigation could not whether (or, most likely, did not want to) bring to its logical conclusion. All defendants still roam free. Although there is more than enough evidence against them.
The businessmen from big football, who ruined Spartak, plundered the club money, found solid, powerful patrons from power structures. Administration of the President of the country, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, the Accounts Chamber. They "slowed down" the process of possible "landings".
The same Romantsev, according to him, being the president of the club, did not delve into the essence of financial issues. And, if he delved into it, it was only out of selfish interests. For example, how much dividends may be due to him personally from certain transactions that the ubiquitous assistant Grigory Esaulenko turned over.
The club money of Spartak, I note, earned by the players, and not by officials, in various tournaments, was sent to different accounts around the world. From Europe to America and Australia. It is by no means disinterested for Messrs. Romantsev, Esaulenko, Zavarzin, and others like them.
How can you not profit here, the temptation for thieves is great. After all, Spartak, without exaggeration, turned over millions, speaking in the most prestigious club tournament - the Champions League. Plus players were sold left and right. And numerous sponsors showered the "red-whites" with solid bonuses, valuable gifts. Cash infusions flowed like a full-flowing river. Here a zealous owner was required, but ...
... From the protocol of interrogation in the criminal case of the general director of the private security company "Skat" Alexander Voronov:
- On June 6, 1997 (only nine days before the murder - A.M.) in the afternoon, a woman called us. She introduced herself as the general director of the Spartak football club Nechaeva Larisa Gennadievna. She said she wanted to talk about her personal protection. Friends strongly recommended hiring professional security guards. We agreed that from June 16 she would have constant security, concluded an official contract, and on that we parted.
Larisa Nechaeva did not live only one day to protect herself from the sinister execution.
Probably, Larisa Gennadievna was a secretive, strong nature, relying solely on herself. Otherwise, how to regard the fact that even her brother, Gennady Sorokin, did not say a word about the threats against her. And the threats, now there is no doubt, took place.
And Nechaeva had fears for her life if there was a need to seek help from employees of a private security company. It remains to be assumed that the customers, as well as the perpetrators of the murder, were in a hurry to remove the general director, having somehow learned about her plans to hire security for themselves.
Obviously, the head coach and president of the club, Romantsev, turned out to be extremely illegible in the selection of personnel for key positions. I do not exclude, I went for it consciously. He gave prestigious positions to people who were able to enrich themselves and his “beloved”. It is no coincidence that businessmen from Oleg Ivanovich's inner circle famously transferred club funds to foreign accounts. And not only for the purpose of hiding taxes, but also with a passion for personal gain (I will certainly tell you about this).
At the same time, some of them personally told me that the football players were not paid salaries for several months in a row.
The following fact also speaks of promiscuity in people, conscious or unconscious. After the death of Nechaeva, Romantsev signed a power of attorney. The document is important, fundamental in such cases. So, it is written in black and white on the paper that Vice-President Grigory Yesaulenko and the newly-minted CEO Yuri Zavarzin manage Spartak’s funds (probably, the traces of blood have not yet been washed off after the execution of Nechaeva in her country house).
Dealers from criminal structures famously "disposed" of the club's money. Stupidly stuffed the currency earned by the players into their personal foreign accounts! And, thus, they completed the bankruptcy of the team beloved by millions of people. They also avoided jail time. I hope so far. Although hopes for retribution are almost gone.
Later, in 2003, during a press conference dedicated to the resignation of Romantsev from all posts, the newly-made president of the "red-white" Andrei Chervichenko told the people sensational things. Of course, only the author of these lines asked questions about financial fraud. The broadcast was live.
The so-called colleagues were silent in a rag. And Andrei Vladimirovich told the football world that all data on the club's financial activities had been successfully erased from club computers. Isn't it a clear evidence of total theft in the national team. The former managers, headed by the "legendary" Romantsev, quickly covered up their tracks...
Alexey MATVEEV
To be continued
Source: www.rucriminal.info
