Well, Catholic Christmas though it may be, it is Christmas already. And at Christmas, as we have known since childhood, the most amazing miracles happen. The poorest and most wronged can receive astonishing gifts they never even dreamed of.
At the Anti-Corruption Foundation, we spent the whole year going after State Duma deputies and calling them bad names. But now, filled with the Spirit of Christmas, we have decided to give one of the deputies a present.
Obviously, the wealthy deputies are doing just fine already, so we decided to reward not just a poor deputy, but the poorest one of all.
To pick a veritable Cinderella of the State Duma.
That Cinderella—or rather, Cinder-fella, since he is a man—turned out to be United Russia deputy Alexander Mikhailovich Babakov.
http://www.duma.gov.ru/structure/deputies/131439/
Our Cinder-fella is literally the poorest deputy in the State Duma. He has nothing. Which is rather strange, since he used to be known as a very wealthy man and one of the main sponsors of the Rodina and A Just Russia parties—but “used to be known” is vague, while official documents are official documents.
According to the official declaration, Cinder-fella and his wife had a combined income of 2 million rubles in 2012.
The family has no car, and the only property they declare is a modest service apartment.
Babakov gets to work at the State Duma by metro, which he reaches by trolleybus.
So if anyone once thought our Babakov-Cinder-fella was very rich, we assure you—that is not the case. Perhaps an Evil Fairy crossed his path and took all his money away? That happens in Christmas fairy tales too, especially since we know for certain that the life path of the Poorest Deputy was hard and winding: he led the Rodina party, then folded it into A Just Russia, and then fled from A Just Russia to United Russia.
In short, we consider poor Babakov the best candidate for a Fairy-Tale Christmas Gift.
And we decided to give him an estate in France. Yes, don’t be surprised. The ACF is a wealthy NGO (well, at least wealthier on paper than Cinder-fella Babakov), so why shouldn’t we give someone an estate?
Here is what we picked:
In this satellite image, you can see the house in the French commune of Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines, 37 kilometers (23 miles) southwest of Versailles.
Here is what the house looks like up close
On the huge 10-hectare (24.7-acre) plot there is a servants’ house (because in Cinder-fella’s new fairy-tale life, he must of course have servants)
a tennis court
Let’s all buy this estate together for United Russia’s Cinder-fella Babakov.
So, here we go:
In 1999, a special company, DU CHATEAU DE SAINT LEGER, was set up to own this house. Its corporate form is a Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI), a type of company created specifically for holding real estate. Incidentally, Pskov Region governor Andrei Turchak also owns a house in Nice through a similar company.
The first clause of the company’s charter states that its purpose is to purchase and own real estate in Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines.
That same year, the company bought from the previous owner, SCI DU CHATEU DU CLOS RENARD (“Fox Vineyard,” or alternatively “Fox Retreat,” though we prefer the first version), a total of 108,916 square meters of land for 13.35 million French francs (about €2 million), along with everything built on it. That is 1.5 times larger than the official area of Yakunin’s “fur storage palace” (a sarcastic reference to a lavish estate linked to Vladimir Yakunin, former head of Russian Railways).
(The document lists six cadastral plots; later, some of them were merged, and there are now four addresses.)
Here is a screenshot from the French land registry website with information on the largest of the four plots, covering 104,236 square meters.
So we have assembled the full gift: the house, the outbuildings, and a 10.9-hectare (26.9-acre) plot.
Now let’s see who owns the estate today, so we can buy it out and hand it over to the unfortunate poor Babakov family.
In 2009, the company was purchased by a certain Madame Irina Babakova.
Mmmmm... Babakova... what a strange French surname... we seem to have heard it somewhere before...
WAIT A MINUTE!!! ATTENDEZ UNE MINUTE!!! JUST A SECOND!!!
Irina Babakova is the wife of United Russia deputy Alexander Babakov. Our Cinder-fella, whose family supposedly does not even own a car. No money in bank accounts. No shares. NOTHING AT ALL.
Could it be a mistake?
Here is her date of birth in the historical extract (her maiden name is used; that happens in France—Turchak’s wife is also listed under her maiden name).
This year, Babakova transferred her share to her daughter Olga and her son Mikhail.
Olga Babakova and Mikhail Babakov are definitely the children of our Cinder-fella.
They are even officially registered at the same address as their deputy father.
Good heavens, what is going on here! No sooner had we found the poorest United Russia deputy and decided to play Fairy Godmother by giving him a gift than it turned out that the poorest deputy owns a 10.9-hectare estate in France.
The Fairy Godmother is very upset and disappointed. And from fairy tales you know what happens when Cinder-fella upsets the Fairy Godmother—she grabs a spindle or a pumpkin or some other magical object and starts furiously bashing the people around her over the head with it, especially Cinderella.
Take that, naughty Cinder-fella Babakov—your Paris apartment!
It is listed in the estate extract: 169 Rue de l'Université, Paris.
Take that, you bad lying Cinder-fella—a photo of the nameplate on the building door, taken by our wonderful volunteer helpers (many thanks to them for this):
Take that, “poor deputy”—the location of your Paris apartment. Voters in Tambov Region will surely be very interested to learn that their deputy’s apartment is 650 meters (about 0.4 miles) from the Eiffel Tower (which, most likely, cannot even be seen from Tambov).
For some reason, the happy son of the poorest United Russia deputy has no desire at all to pose for photos in front of Tambov landmarks, but Parisian ones—those he enjoys very much.
Babakova, Mikhail:
Take that, nasty United Russia Cinder-fella—the value of your estate, so you do not dare lie about it:
Here are similar properties nearby:
http://www.levieilorme.com/immobilier/achat-de-prestige/immo-saint-leger-en-yvelines-78/bien-maison/?lang=en (two properties here)
http://www.lapoulefaisane.com/annonces/achat/maison/saint-leger-en-yvelines-78/76458403.htm?lang=en
The first is priced at €1,135,135 per hectare, the second at €916,666 per hectare, and the third at €1,137,169 per hectare. The average comes to €1,062,990 per hectare.
At €1,062,990 per hectare, Babakov’s “Fox Vineyard” estate would be worth €11,480,292, or $15.7 million.
In short, our Christmas fairy tale is not working out. Our Poor Cinder-fella has no need for the “Fox Vineyard” estate, because it already belongs to him.
And in fact, our deputy Babakov is no Cinder-fella at all.
Like all United Russia members, he is a lying, hypocritical cheat and crook. He states in his declaration that his family owns nothing, while in reality he has put foreign real estate worth many millions of dollars in his wife’s name. Deputy Babakov should not be rewarded—he should be kicked out of the State Duma (and out of politics altogether).
Take note that this swindler and underground millionaire chairs the State Duma commission on the defense industry, which suggests veeeeery serious risks for that sector. They are already buying pistols at twice the market price, and once they have “spent” the entire planned 20 trillion rubles, Babakov will probably be able to buy all of France.
We were unable to find any bank accounts, but if someone tells me you can maintain property like this without having an account at a French bank, I will simply laugh out loud.
And yet holding foreign bank accounts is explicitly prohibited for State Duma deputies.
This fake Cinder-fella deserves punishment. Let us all become the Evil Fairy Godmother for this United Russia man.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation has prepared the usual complaints for: the State Duma commission that checks the accuracy of declarations this new anti-corruption directorate United Russia the All-Russia People’s Front. They are always screeching about being against corruption—let them answer for Babakov. Either they expel him, or we will remind them about him every single time.
We urge all journalists to call Babakov, the State Duma, and United Russia to get explanations from them.
And of course, the mandatory part of the program:
Here is a leaflet that anyone can download and distribute: http://fbk.info/babakov/babakov.pdf
Here is the same leaflet as an image: http://fbk.info/babakov/babakov.jpg We would be very grateful if you posted this image on all your social media accounts and shared links to this post.
These crooks survive only because of our laziness. We are too lazy to do outreach work. Should we be lazy?
No.
The story of the vile liar, fraudster, and con man Babakov will turn anyone who hears it away from Putin and United Russia. We need to make sure they hear it.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who took part in the investigation, searched for documents, and helped us on the ground in Paris and in Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines itself. Special thanks to Sergei Parkhomenko, who translated handwritten French scribbles for us.
Update: Oh, Parkhomenko writes that Babakov’s château in France is on the list of France’s historical heritage sites http://cook.livejournal.com/251373.html
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