18:55, 22 January 2026

The court confiscated the property of Elena Zolotareva.

The Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar ruled to forfeit the property of Elena Zolotareva, former chairperson of the Rostov Regional Court convicted of corruption, to the state.

As reported by Kavkazsky Uzel, at the end of December 2025, former chairperson of the Rostov Regional Court Elena Zolotareva was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bribery and a fine of 170 million rubles, while her deputy was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a fine of 120 million. The court found two more defendants to be intermediaries in the transfer of bribes, while a fifth defendant escaped punishment by signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.

In September 2023, the fifth defendant in this case, Albert Romanov, a representative of the head of Chechnya in the Kaliningrad region, was taken into custody. Investigators believe he was an intermediary in the transfer of bribes to Elena Zolotareva. On November 17, 2025, the court granted a motion to suspend proceedings in his case due to signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense and his transfer to the SVO zone.

According to the prosecutor's office, Zolotareva is the beneficial owner of real estate and vehicles acquired with illegally obtained funds. To avoid declaring her assets, Zolotareva registered them in the name of her son, Sergei Zolotarev, and her trusted confidant, Maria Dankevich. The court granted the claims in full, confiscating the defendants' property: an apartment, a parking space, a Toyota Land Cruiser, and a Toyota Alphard, Interfax reported today.

It is noted that the state also forfeited funds seized during searches of Zolotareva's home and office: 128.8 million rubles, 27,800 euros, 11,700 US dollars, as well as jewelry valued at 17.6 million rubles, according to expert estimates.

Zolotareva's representative stated in court that she completely disagrees with the stated claims. According to the defense, Zolotareva's income during her tenure as a judge was sufficient to cover the purchases of this property. Zolotareva also borrowed money from friends and relatives. Regarding the jewelry and luxury items, Zolotareva's representative noted that the Prosecutor General's Office has not proven that they were purchased during Zolotareva's tenure as a judge, TASS reported.

Zolotareva and Yurova were accused of accepting bribes. Yurova, like Bondarenko and Roshchevsky, is also accused of acting as an intermediary in bribery. According to investigators, she acted as an intermediary in the transfer of bribes to Zolotareva. On December 19, the defendants made their closing statements in the Pervomaisky District Court of Krasnodar and refused to plead guilty to bribery.

The defense also filed a motion to suspend proceedings on the case, citing the fact that, in the defense's view, the subjects of this civil dispute and the criminal case in which a decision was previously rendered are identical. The court denied the motion to suspend proceedings.

The criminal prosecution of Rostov judges will not lead to a mass review of the sentences they handed down, but those convicted can challenge them in the Qualification Collegium of Judges, according to lawyers previously interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot."

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420150