Most observers consider him an undisputed leader of the current election campaign. However, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office Department in the Siberian Federal District (PGO SFD) unexpectedly gave the applicant for a governor's chair an unpleasant surprise.

The former governor of the Novosibirsk region and the former Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Siberian Federal District Viktor Tolokonsky is famous not only for his elegant costumes, but also for his involvement in a number of criminal cases.

Recently the Prosecutor General's Office has begun checking legality of the suspension of a real estate fraud investigation in Novosibirsk.

The case was initiated in connection with the transaction on the sale of a land plot in the downtown. As a result, the budget suffered damage estimated at many millions. The investigators found that in 2010, JSC Gaztranskom, owned by the region, sold a non-residential two-storey building and a land plot of ​​more than a thousand square meters to a company, namedTactica, for 22.7 million rubles. The land plot was supposed to be used for construction of a five-star hotel. According to the investigation, the actual cost was lowered by 14 million rubles.

After the proceedings were initiated, the head of the region Vasily Yurchenko was dismissed “in connection with loss of confidence”. And Victor Tolokonsky suddenly left the post of Presidential Envoy to the Siberian Federal District. On May 12, 2014, he became the acting governor of the Krasnoyarsk Krai.

The “Novosibirsk case” was stopped.

However, now there are all the reasons to assume that it will be reopened. Especially since Yurchenko insisted that the decision to sell the property had been made “by agreement with the then governor Viktor Tolokonsky”. After all, until September 2010, he’d been the Governor of Novosibirsk region.

According to Rumafia, reopening of the case is connected with the interests of Igor Sechin’s Group which is rumored to promote its own  candidate to the post of the head of the region. This candidate is also supported by Norilsk Nickel of Vladimir Potanin.

The “Novosibirsk case” is not the only one in which Tolokonskiy was involved. There is a no less resonant “case of Solodkin” in Siberia. It is a question of a criminal case of former vice mayor of Novosibirsk Alexander Solodkin and his father - Alexander Solodkin Sr., the former adviser of Tolokonsky for sports and his personal friend. They are considered involved in an organized criminal group, which was led by businessman Alexander Trunov. This gang operated in Novosibirsk for almost two decades. And it was not without involvement of Tolokonsky. The witness Hasan Gareev declared even in 2011, “Trunov always noted a special role of Solodkin, as through Alexander Naumovich, we had a direct access to the governor ...”

By the way, the investigation into the case of the Solodkins is still ongoing. But Trunov has already sentenced to 22 years in prison.

It is unlikely that inhabitants of the Krasnoyarsk Krai want to see their governor to be a person so blatantly mixed up with crime. Moreover, according to the polls, 80 — 85% of the inhabitants wanted their governor to be a native of Krasnoyarsk and not an outsider.

Besides Tolokonsky, four local candidates are now running for the post of the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai. These are Denis Pobilat (LDPR - Liberal Democratic Party of Russia), Valery Sergienko (CPRF - Communist Party of the Russian Federation), Nicholay Trikman (A Just Russia) and Ivan Serebryakov (Patriots of Russia Party). The deputy of the City Council of Krasnoyarsk Ivan Serebriakov - the youngest of the candidates – was able to get registered for the running by the local authorities only after the federal center had intervened in the matter. Only on July 29, the electoral commission registered the signatures of municipal deputies which he collected. It will be recalled that last year the victory of the Patriots of Russia in the elections to the City Council of Krasnoyarsk was provided by support of reputable businessman Anatoly Bykov. Now he uses his influence to promote Serebryakov.

As it became known to Rumafia, there's a very nervous atmosphere in campaign headquarters of Tolokonsky at the moment. The investigation of the fraud at real estate sale in Novosibirsk can be reopened at any time. In this case, it won’t be a question of winning the election or even of participation in the second round. The matter is that then Victor Tolokonsky himself can become a person involved in “Novosibirsk case”.