Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/03/kaspersky_kidnapper_jailed/
Former Russian officer sentenced for part in Kaspersky kidnapping
Ex-Captain in Kremlin guards handed military porridge
Posted in Security, 3rd September 2012 10:16 GMT
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A former captain in the Russian Federal Security Guard Service* has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after he was convicted of involvement in the kidnapping Ivan Kaspersky, son of Kaspersky Lab founder Eugene, the Moscow Times reports [1].
Ivan Kaspersky was kidnapped in Moscow April 2011 by a gang who attempted to extort €3m from his parents for his safe return. The plot failed and the then 20 year-old student was recovered five days later without any bloodshed, following a police operation.
Alexei Ustimchuk was arrested along with his alleged partners but tried separately in a military court where he pleaded guilty to preparing the kidnap, buying three cars and numerous mobile phones to set up the failed operation. Pravda adds [2] that defence lawyers argued Ustimchuk did not know the target of the intended kidnapping and supposedly thought it was an attempt to intimidate a debtor. Nonetheless he pleaded guilty to abduction and extortion.
Other suspects in the case are yet to stand trial. ®
Bootnote
*The organisation which provides bodyguards and other security for the Russian President and other high-ranking officials, as well as guard troops for important locations such as the Kremlin. In Soviet times it was part of the KGB.