The scandalous case of Tri Kita (fittingly, Three Whales) has grown out long ago of the frames of usual large-scale furniture contraband. It was accompanied with a series of murders, attempts and threats. The peak of those crimes was in 2002-2003 when a fierce struggle was going on around the criminal case started. In 2002, after appeal by the State Duma to the president, the Prosecutor General’s office had to renew the suspended before investigation.  

Of course, each criminal episode was considered thoroughly. The coroners investigated the murders beyond the frames of the economic case, but they had opportunities of consultation with the investigative group. And yet five years having passed, no murder was solved and no culprits were arrested and punished.   

The employees from law enforcement bodies who dealt with the investigation of crimes related to Tri Kita case, all of them note that no one can state for sure those cases to be related. There were many coincidences, but the facts were not obtained. Practically all of those “satellite” cases were suspended. And in some cases even the stage of pre-investigation checking has not been passed during these years, like it is about Yuri Shchekochihin’s case about odd and sudden death.     

“The crimes concentrated around the Tri Kita case were committed by professionals, former employees from the law enforcement bodies and special services, who had the experience of investigation and search operations.” Such is a belief by those who had relation to those investigations. “The crimes were planned so carefully, that no evidence was left. Even the Tri Kita case itself did not feature any FSB, prosecution of customs office employers to be accused”.   

Novaya Gazeta information

The case on the furniture contraband, where the “Grand” salon and “Tri Kita” salon were involved, appeared in 2000. After Investigative Committee at the interior ministry got testimonial evidence indicating involvement by an employer from the central FSB apparat, the materials of the case were urgently required by the Prosecutor General’s office and there the case was tried to be closed down. The State Duma, having received the scripts of tapping saying about the bribes taken by the prosecutors for closing that case down, applied to the president demanding investigation to be continued. Then Vladimir Putin took the case under his personal control. And it’s only after resignation of the Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov in 2006 the arrests of the involved persons followed. However, there were no government officials among them. Anyway, parts of the materials reached the trial then. There are also materials indicating that money for construction of the furniture centers in question were dealt with by persons involved in the scandalous story of laundering money through the Bank of New York. However, the Russian investigation did not and does not consider this part of the case.