MOSCOW, June 9 (RAPSI) – The Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction on Thursday upheld a 50,000-ruble fine (over $850 at the current exchange rate) given as a punishment Andrey Gayev, a defense witness in a case against actor Mikhail Efremov who had stated that the defendant had not driven his Jeep, RAPSI was told in the court’s press service.

In April 2021, three defense witnesses in the case of Efremov were convicted and sentenced to community service for false testimony. In July, the Moscow City Court replaced community service passed upon Gayev with a fine of 50,000 rubles.

According to the case materials, Gayev and his friend Alexander Kobets were not present at the site at the time of the accident and could not be witnesses of the crash.

Altogether, three cases were initiated against persons claiming they were witnesses of the crush on suspicion of giving deliberately false testimony. Thus, Kobets and Gayev said they saw not Efremov, but someone else driving the car at the time of the accident. The third defendant, Tevan Badasyan, alleged that he detected another person being in the car alongside the actor. 

In October 2020, the Moscow City Court reduced jail sentence of Efremov by 6 months, from 8 to 7.5 years. The actor was found guilty of driving under influence (DUI) resulting in vehicular homicide.

As established by the court, on the evening of June 8, Efremov driving his car crossed into the oncoming lane in central Moscow and collided with a delivery service vehicle. He was arrested on the scene. Alcohol and drugs were reportedly found in his blood. Victim Sergey Zakharov was taken to hospital where he died early in the morning of June 9.