Rokotov–Faibishenko case

[citation needed] Ever since the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in Moscow in 1957, dealing in foreign currency had begun to take place on a fairly large scale despite being illegal.

[citation needed] Rokotov and Faibishenko had a history of making profit, which was not only illegal in the USSR, but also looked down upon as immoral, as it went against the country's Leninist ideology.

Rokotov had traded in stamps, books and camera equipment (an occupation known as fartsovka) in school and moved up to foreign clothing, before entering the currency business.

During the trial, the KGB had arranged an exhibit featuring the group's holdings: a mountain of valuables, Tsarist gold coins, a mound of foreign banknotes, packets of Soviet money and bank deposit books.

Then, on 1 July, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet issued an edict providing the death penalty for violators of the laws regarding foreign currency operations.

Aleksei Adzhubei, Khrushchev's son-in-law and editor-in-chief of Izvestia, saw this as clearly illegal (as retroactive punishment was banned by Article 6 of the RSFSR Criminal Code) and tried to intercede on their behalf, but the General Secretary had made up his mind.

Accordingly, on 21 July, pursuant to Article 25 of the Law on State Crimes, they were sentenced to death by shooting and with confiscation of all their valuables and property.