Moscow's Presnensky District Court has sentenced blogger Guseyn Gasanov in absentia to four years in a general-regime penal colony for money laundering involving over 68 million rubles (about 413 million tenge), reports infohub.kz.
The judge read the verdict, finding Gasanov guilty of a crime under Article 174.1, Part 4, Paragraph 'b' of the Russian Criminal Code (legalization of funds). He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a general-regime colony.
During the trial, the prosecution had requested a six-year prison term, but the court reduced the sentence to four years.
According to investigators, Gasanov, as an individual entrepreneur, failed to pay taxes totaling more than 170 million rubles (about 1.03 billion tenge). He subsequently legalized these funds through financial transactions and a purchase agreement for apartments in the Moscow-City business complex, amounting to over 68 million rubles (about 413 million tenge).
Earlier reports indicated that the well-known blogger had been placed on the wanted list.