In the case of the Château de la Rochepot (Saône-et-Loire), the criminal court of Nancy issued its decision concerning the 6 people tried. The trial concluded on November 17, with the president placing the decision under counsel.
The decision of the criminal court of Nancy had been submitted for consultation on 8 December. The sanctions are now known.
Ukrainian Dmitri Malinowsky was sentenced to 4 and a half years’ imprisonment, including six months with a suspended sentence and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Dmitri Malinovsky, who was also convicted of using false identity documents, occult work and possession of weapons, was also sentenced to a ban on traveling to the four Burgundy departments.
His lawyer, Me Benoît Diry is not “disagreement” with condemnation. For him it is a “disappointment” et “the question of a call arises”.
The court also issued suspended prison sentences of between two years and four months for four other defendants, including Dmitri Malinovsky’s ex-wife, All Malinovska, and Dmitri Malinovsky’s ex-lover Olga Kalina.
Alla Malinovska was given a one-year suspended sentence and a €30,000 fine, while Olga Kalina was given a two-year suspended sentence. The ex-lover is also banned from French territory for five years.
No organized gangs, the castle confiscated
The aggravating circumstance of organized band was not retained by the court, which nevertheless pronounced the confiscation of the castle with provisional execution.
Lawyer Me Anne-Laure Fonade, accused of creating the financial package used to buy and manage the property, has been released from prison.
Singaporean company Dreymoorowned by a Russian citizen, was declared a civil party: the court ruled that the link between the scam this company claims to have been the victim of Dmitri Malinovsky in 2015 and the origin of the funds used to buy the castle was “insufficiently established”.
A “cold shower” for the company attorney, Me Charlotte Plantin, of whom he speaks “the worst possible decision” and decided to appeal.
The prosecution had sought five years’ imprisonment for the main defendant, suspended sentences of three years to six months for another five, and the confiscation of the Burgundian castle.
Seven defendants, including four Ukrainians, were heard for eight days in November to shed light on the origin of funds used for the 2015 purchase of the 12th-century neo-Gothic fortress, which had been up for sale for three years.
The château had been seized in 2018 and emptied, to the chagrin of the inhabitants of La Rochepot who saw around 30,000 tourists parade every year to visit the building in the heart of wine-growing Burgundy.
