46-year-old candidate of agricultural sciences Elena Prishchepenko attracted the attention of the UBEP, the FSB and the TFR: a fraud case was opened against her. The amount of damage is still a modest 480 thousand rubles. According to sources, she allegedly wrote out this money as bonuses to subordinates, and then took it in cash. The director of the research institute spent two days in the isolation ward, but the court refused to arrest her. Details of the criminal history – in the material “BUSINESS Online”.
What were they detained for?
The director of the Tatar Research Institute of Agrochemistry and Soil Science, Elena Prishchepenko, came under the supervision of the security forces after the operatives of the economic security department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Tatarstan and employees of the republican department of the FSB received a signal about theft at the institute. This signal was the statement of one of Prishchepenko’s subordinates. He said that the authorities write out bonuses and make them pay back in cash.
After that, all actions took place under the control of the security forces. When the subordinate Prishchepenko (his name is still kept secret) was once again issued a bonus from his superiors, the man, stocking up on recording devices, went to the head of the office. There, under the “record” gave her his award.
However, they did not immediately detain Prishchepenko, the operatives recorded several more similar episodes: at least four employees of the research institute gave similar testimony.
On this fact, the Investigative Committee for the Republic of Tatarstan initiated a criminal case on fraud using one’s official position (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to BUSINESS Online sources, we are talking about collecting premiums in the amount of 480 thousand rubles. How many specific employees are listed as victims and for how long they allegedly gave her money – these questions are now also being clarified by investigators. Our interlocutors do not rule out that the amount is not final and in the near future the case may be reclassified to a more serious article. Today, the director of the research institute faces up to 6 years in prison.
Officially, the investigatory committee does not comment on the criminal case. According to our information, the Prishchepenko case is being handled by the 4th Department for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan, specifically, the most experienced investigator Evgenia Romanova. She, for example, brought the case of the ex-chairman of A Just Russia in the Republic of Tatarstan, Rushaniya Bilgildeyeva, to court.
Prishchepenko was detained on May 24, and on the 26th, last Friday, investigator Romanova applied to the court for a preventive measure. Loyal enough – they asked for house arrest. Meanwhile, the court did not agree with this, considering the imprisonment in the walls of the house too strict for a candidate of agricultural sciences. As BUSINESS Online was informed in the press service of the Privolzhsky District Court of Kazan, which considered the petition of the investigation, Judge Artem Nikiforov chose a 2-month ban on certain actions for Prishchepenko.
Who is Elena Prishchepenko?
Prishchepenko is 46 years old and, judging by the few data in open sources, she has been associated with agriculture all her life. In 2000 she graduated from the Mari State University with a degree in zootechnics and received the qualification of zooengineer. Her first place of work, inscribed in the official biography, was the branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Rosselkhoztsentr” in the Republic of Tatarstan. She worked there for 8 years, from 2011 to 2019, as a deputy head.
From there, Prishchepenko moved to the Tatar Research Institute of Agrochemistry and Soil Science (NIIAKhP) and almost immediately headed it.
What does the Research Institute do?
As the director of the research institute, he takes part in official events. For example, last year at the international exhibition “Agrovolga” in “Kazan Expo” she welcomed the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov. Every year, since 2020, Prishchepenko presents the stand of the research institute at the large-scale exhibition “Field Day”.
She is also a candidate of agricultural sciences – she defended her Ph.D. thesis at the Tatar Research Institute of Agriculture on the topic of how “chemistry” affects the reduction of infection of seed potatoes with viruses. Over the years of professional activity, the director’s work has been repeatedly awarded with republican and federal level awards. Prishchepenko was awarded a diploma of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Tatarstan for conscientious and fruitful work, the medal “Honorary Agrochemist”, a letter of appreciation from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation “For many years of conscientious work in the agro-industrial complex” and others.
It was not possible to contact Prishchepenko at the time of publication of the text. The BUSINESS Online correspondent, who called the institute’s reception, was told that the director has not been coming to work since Thursday and at the moment no one can say when she will appear. “Well, how? In the course (of the criminal case), we are all at work, she was not there. And no one is fulfilling her duties yet, we have a deputy head, ”the research institute replied.
Scandals with premiums in Tatarstan
This is not the first criminal case initiated in the Republic of Tatarstan in connection with the alleged embezzlement of premiums. One of the most high-profile (and long-lasting) cases is also connected with the field of agriculture, and specifically with the former chief accountant of the Rosselkhoznadzor department for the Republic of Tatarstan, Eric Akhmetov.
The investigating authorities suspected that in 2017-2019, Akhmetov, being an accountant, issued bonuses to employees for 7.5 million rubles, which he allegedly took for himself. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for this, but later the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan canceled the sentence and sent it for a new trial. Then the case was returned for additional investigation: in the new version of the prosecution, the damage decreased by 1.5 times to 4.6 million rubles. In addition, the employees themselves (17 people), who allegedly returned bonuses to him, and not the department, were recognized as victims in the case. The case is still pending in court. Akhmetov does not admit his guilt. They accuse him under Part 3 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud”) and part 1 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Exceeding official powers”).
Foat Mukhametshin, the former head of Sredvolgavodkhoz, also got into a high-profile case in 2019: he was suspected of allegedly illegally writing bonuses for himself for 700 thousand rubles in 2016-2018. Then the economic police found out that his subordinates allegedly wrote statements addressed to him with a request to encourage them and their boss, Mukhametshin, for good work. And then he himself signed these statements. The case is being considered in court.