Penza, 2 August 2013. PenzaNews. The head of the city housing and communal services Alexei Agafilov is accused of committing fraud on a large scale, particularly in fraud with land plots being the property of the community. This was stated by the representative of Leninsky district court of Penza on Friday, August 2.

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“A criminal case was instituted against Alexei Agafilov under Part 4, Art. 159 of the Criminal Code “Fraud.” On 1 August 2013, the senior investigator of the investigating department of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Penza region applied to Leninsky district court of Penza with a request to change previously selected preventive measure in the form of movement restriction and appropriate behavior in view of the fact that the offense is classified as serious with maximum penalty of up to 10 years of imprisonment,” the agency interlocutor said.

He added that, according to the investigation, the detainee might influence the witnesses.

“In addition, we have not established all the crime-partners and contacts which may affect further investigation. The investigators also believe that Alexei Agafilov may escape,” the representative of the court commented.

According to him, when considering the application, the court took into account all the circumstances presented.

“However, in view of the personality of Alexei Agafilov having no criminal records, with positive references from the places of residence and work, as well as three young children of his — the court found it possible to change previously selected preventive measure to house arrest with a number of prohibitions. Thus, the head of the city housing and communal services has no right communicating with anyone other than immediate family members. He is allowed using a telephone and the Internet only to call the doctor and communicate with the investigator. In addition, he may not send or receive postal messages,” the agency interlocutor said.

He noted that Alexei Agafilov is not allowed leaving his house other than to see a doctor, but to do this he needs to obtain a written permission of the investigator, after which he will be accompanied by an officer or the investigator himself.

“This preventive measure will be effective until 1 October 2013 and may be extended further. A court order may be appealed within three days from the date of its issuance,” the representative of Leninsky district court of Penza concluded.