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Murmansk Duma removes chairman accused of fraud

Vasily Shambir has been removed from position as Chaiiman of the Murmansk Regional Duma by Duma members.

The regional parliament in Murmansk on Thursday removed Vasily Shambir from the post as chairman. The politician is in custody suspected of fraud.

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At a meeting in the Murmansk Regional Duma on Thursday 20 members voted for a removal of Vasily Shambir as chairman, is spite of the fact that the investigation is not finished and Shambir has not been found guilty of the accusations against him.

According to acting chairman of the regional parliament Mikhail Ilinykh the members of the Duma decided to vote for Shambir’s removal because of the Duma’s 20th anniversary, which takes place in December. “He has not performed as chairman for eight months now and he has lost contact with the fraction and the party because of actions that discredit United Russia,” Ilinykh said according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Earlier in November the regional leadership of United Russia decided to kick Shambir out of the party, as BarentsObserver reported.

20 members of the parliament votet for a removal of Shambir, six voted against and two voted blank, FlashNord reports. The Duma fraction of the Communist Party refused to take part in the voting, claiming that is was against the Duma’s regulations since Shambir has not been convicted for anything yet, and he did not get a chance to explain himself to the Duma.

Shambir remains in the Duma as an ordinary deputy.

On Wednesday a fourth criminal case against Shambir was opened. In that case he is accused of fraud of 229 million rubles (€3.9 million) during his time as General Director at Kandalaksha Developmental Engineering Plant from 2007 to 2009, FlashNord writes.

Shambir already had three different criminal cases against him. He is accused of fraud of 42 million rubles (€715,910) from Kandalaksha Developmental Engineering Plant while serving as General Director of the plant. Later, he was accused of stealing 26 million rubles (€443,182.968) from Barentsbank in the same period, and even later he was also accused of stealing 24 million rubles (€409,091) from DnBNOR Monchebank.

Shambir was arrested in August when supposedly trying to get on a plane to Spain when he was stopped in passport control and detained. Since he is under investigation, Shambir is not allowed to leave the country. He was brought to Murmansk, where a court sentenced him to two months of prison for breaking pre-trial restrictions and trying to hide from investigation and court.