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6 hours ago
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Former Russian Supreme Court Judge Viktor Momotov is facing new accusations of involvement in a child prostitution scheme, adding to charges that he illegally operated hotels while serving in public office, state media reported Tuesday.
Prosecutors told a Moscow court last week that Momotov used his judicial position to conceal and enable criminal activities at a hotel chain where rooms were allegedly rented by the hour for sex work. He is also accused of structuring his businesses to evade roughly 500 million rubles ($6.3 million) in taxes.
New evidence presented in court cites earlier prostitution convictions linked to the Marton hotel chain in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd and Kaliningrad, according to the state-run news agency TASS. “Minors were also identified among those involved in prostitution,” a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Momotov resigned from the Supreme Court last month after being charged with corruption. He has denied all allegations and said the case is a blow to his health and reputation.
The Prosecutor General’s Office is seeking to confiscate 95 properties prosecutors say were registered under business associate Andrei Marchenko but effectively controlled by Momotov. The assets include the Marton hotel chain, which spans some 40 properties across Russia valued at more than 9 billion rubles ($113 million).
Marchenko has been held in pretrial detention since his arrest last month on charges including fraud, tax evasion, bribery and desertion. Prosecutors have also linked Momotov to former Krasnodar region judge Alexander Chernov, who they allege helped secure his 2010 Supreme Court appointment.
Chernov had 13 billion rubles ($163 million) in assets confiscated in August in a separate corruption case.
Moscow’s Ostankino District Court rejected Momotov’s request to close the hearings, ruling that proceedings would remain open despite his claim that the case materials contained sensitive financial information.
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