At the end of October 2020, the Moscow Region Business Ombudsman Vladimir Golovnev received an appeal from the director of a company that manages apartment buildings in  Solnechnogorsk urban district of Moscow Region. 

In his appeal, the applicant pointed to the inaction of the local Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.  The intervention of the Moscow  Region Business Ombudsman helped to speed up the return of company's property which was seized during the pre-investigation inspection.

    In July 2020, the employees of the SEB and PK OMVD of Russia in Solnechnogorsk, during the inspection of the premises of the management company LLC "Territory Uyuta", computer equipment, electronic media and financial and economic documentation were seized.  The inspection was carried out as part of a procedural  inspection at the request of a citizen about illegal actions of the management company.

    In the same month, based on the results of a procedural check, the police made a decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case.  And a month later, this decision was canceled by the Solnechnogorsk City Prosecutor's Office as illegal and unreasonable, and the inspection materials were returned to the OMVD of Russia of Solnechnogorsk in order to carry out additional checks.

    “Having started work on the appeal, we naturally turned for comments to the Moscow Region Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, which reported that the financial, economic and information documentation that have been seized from "Territory Uyuta" LLC  must be returned in time limits according to the legislation  terms, "- said the details the Moscow Region Business Ombudsman Vladimir Golovnev.

    At the same time, according to the applicant, despite repeated appeals to various authorities, the documents and  media seized from LLC " Territoriya Uyuta" were not returned, and the possibility of obtaining their copies was not provided either.

    “As a result, the activities of the company at that time were significantly hampered, and in some areas of work, the activities were completely suspended.  In particular, the management company was unable to provide timely reports to the tax authorities, the pension and social funds.  In addition, there wasn't any possibilities to issue residents with extracts from house books and personal accounts necessary for apartment's sale as well as for citizens to receive subsidies and benefits for paying for housing and communal services", as for words of the applicant to the Moscow Region Business Ombudsman.

    “Having considered all the materials on this appeal, we saw violations of the rights and legal interests of the entrepreneur, committed by the Investigative authority, that was expressed in the non-return of the seized property, as well as in the refusal to provide copies of seized documents and electronic media.  Based on the facts of violations of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the city prosecutor's office made a submission to eliminate the violations, as a result of which the seized property was returned to the managing organization", concluded Vladimir Golovnev, the Moscow Region Business Ombudsman.