The Belokalitvinsky interdistrict investigative department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Rostov Region did not reveal any violations when inspecting the car in a criminal case against the former district police officer Roman Lomov.
“Do you recognize the car?”
As RT previously reported, in the Rostov region, now the former precinct village of Tatsinskaya, Roman Lomov is suspected of receiving a bribe. The reason for initiating criminal proceedings against him was the statement of 54-year-old local resident Vasily Terentyev. In 2018, Lomov and several other district police officers arrived at Terentyev’s home after his roommate complained of beating. Ammunition was found in the house and a criminal case was opened against the man for the illegal storage of ammunition.
A RT source in law enforcement said that Terentyev submitted an application to the Investigative Committee that he allegedly gave Lomov a bribe to dismiss the case. Nevertheless, Vasily was eventually found guilty and sentenced to a suspended sentence.
After, a criminal case was initiated in relation to the district police officer under Part 3 of Art. 290 of the Criminal Code. According to lawyer Lomov, at first Terentyev claimed that he was passing a bribe in a company car. However, when it turned out that in those days Lomov did not use a company car, he changed his testimony, saying that he transferred the money to the Hyundai i30.
The Korean foreign car belonged to the father of the district police officer, who was soon forced to sell the criminal case to pay for the services of a lawyer. The car was bought by Inga Serova ( surname changed at her request. - RT ). In January 2020, an investigator called her and, according to her, began to intimidate a woman, demanding to bring the car for inspection.
Arriving at the examination with her husband, the woman turned on the tape recorder. On the audio recordings (RT has it), you can hear the man say: “Vasily Nikolaevich, do you recognize the car?” According to Serova, the voice belongs to investigator Ponomarenko. Another man replies: "No, he was not like that." Serova claims that it was Terentyev.
Inga told RT that the procedure was carried out without witnesses, only in the presence of two witnesses in the case (Vasily Terentyev and his common-law spouse Goncharova), and “the investigator shouted at Terentyev for not recognizing the car.”
Subsequently, the woman found out that in the inspection report of the car it was finally recorded that Vasily allegedly identified the car. Doubting the legality of the investigator’s actions, the Serovs wrote a complaint to the regional Investigative Committee asking them to assess the situation. An audio recording made during the inspection of the car was attached to the appeal.
You were not there
In response to the complaint, the Belokalitvinsky interdistrict investigative department of the Investigative Directorate of the RF IC in the Rostov Region explained that the Hyundai i30 car was legally seized that day with their participation. They added that at the same time the investigator also inspected the car with the participation of Terentyev and Goncharova, but Serova’s wife did not participate in this investigative action, according to the agency.
“During the departmental control and verification of the materials of the criminal case, no violations of the current legislation were found. Your arguments do not find objective confirmation, since you did not take part in this investigative action. Only the participating persons can indicate to the investigator what records he should make in the inspection report, and submit comments on him, ”the regional insurance department said.
- © Photo from the personal archive
Inga Serova decided to appeal the response to her statement.
“I think that nobody even listened to the audio recording. Now the Belokalitvinsky department answered us, and we sent a complaint to the regional administration. Now they have written again to the Investigative Department of the Rostov Region with the emphasis on taking the audio recording into account, studying it, ”Serova told RT.
In turn, Lomov’s lawyer Tatyana Zadorozhnaya notes that in this case Serovs were simply expelled from the case file.
“They actually spat in the face, saying that they had no right to make such a statement at all,” says RT Zadorozhnaya. - They were not included in the inspection protocol, which means they did not seem to be present there. They just brought a car and left, and then returned and took the car. The audio recording, where the investigator requires the victim in the case to identify this particular machine, naturally no one took into account. Serov’s statement was not included in the crime book. Now, in order to file a complaint, I will have to independently conduct an examination of the audio recording - for money that my applicant does not have. ”
Dismissed and Arrested
Meanwhile, the criminal case against Roman Lomov was sent by the prosecutor's office to the UK for revision - due to flaws in the investigation, the supervisor did not approve the indictment and refer the case to court.
Lomov has been under house arrest for almost a year now. The Tatsinsky District Court of the Rostov Region on March 26 extended his preventive measure for one month.
As RT previously stated in the press service of the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Lomov was dismissed from the authorities "for negative reasons" after an internal audit.
The UK refused to answer RT questions about the progress of the investigation.