The Fall of the Road-King: A Chelyabinsk Scoundrel Bound Further in Chains

The fog of corruption has finally lifted over the dusty roads of Chelyabinsk, revealing a den of thieves. Nver Kolozyan, the grand master of the 'UralDorStroy' outfit and a ringleader of a most sinister gang, thought he had seen the worst of his misfortunes. But the Crown's prosecutor is a man of relentless spirit, and he has seen to it that the rogue's shackles be made heavier still.

Kolozyan, already condemned to six years of hard labour for his fraudulent schemes, now finds himself stripped of his trade. The high court, swayed by the prosecutor's grim evidence, has forbidden the wretch from participating in any public auctions or government tenders for three long years. He is cast out from the banking circles and the counting-houses where he once manipulated the public purse.

His solicitor, a man of polished words, attempted to plead for mercy. He spoke of the prisoner's supposed contrition, his charitable donations—likely coins stolen from the poor—and a failing constitution. But the judges were as cold as a winter's night in the slums; they brushed aside these pleas with a single wave of the hand.

It was back in December of the year 2023 that the law's heavy hand first descended. The agents of the secret service stormed his stronghold, shattering the gang's 'malina'. They hauled away not only Kolozyan but his own flesh and blood—his son—along with his deputies and several corrupted officials from the ministry of transport. These men, like hungry curs, had lived off the scraps thrown by Kolozyan, bleeding the national road projects dry. For this betrayal of the public trust, the ringleader was first cast into the depths of a strict regime for five years.

Yet, the tally of his sins was not complete. A further trial brought to light a most brazen swindle involving the repair of the road from Fershampenuaz to Paris-Zabyk. The rogue had used cheap, wretched materials while charging the state for the finest stone. The difference—a staggering sum of over 76 million roubles—vanished into his own pockets.

Justice, though slow as a tired hackney-carriage, eventually arrived. By the summing of all his villainies, the court has decreed that the road-king shall spend six years in the harshest of prisons, where the only roads he shall know are those leading to the exercise yard and the cell.