Russian ex-hospital director jailed for $165,000 embezzlement scheme
A Krasnoyarsk court has upheld the conviction of a former hospital director for embezzling over 15 million rubles ($165,000) in state funds. The ex-director of the Krasnoyarsk branch of Russia's Federal Siberian Scientific and Clinical Center was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 700,000 rubles ($7,700). His appeals were dismissed, confirming the earlier ruling.
The fraud involved fake drug deliveries between 2019 and 2021, where budget money was paid for medications that never arrived. Some of the stolen funds were spent on personal medical treatments and cosmetic procedures for the director and his wife. The scheme centred on fictitious contracts with SibPharmLogistics LLC, a pharmaceutical supplier. Budget funds were transferred for drugs that were never supplied, allowing the ex-director and an accomplice to siphon off millions. The supplier's representative, also convicted, received a four-year suspended sentence.
A separate 2024 trial saw the pharmacy chief convicted after reaching a pretrial deal with prosecutors. Meanwhile, the ex-director's wife remains under investigation in a different case linked to the embezzlement.
The court ordered the seizure of the ex-director's assets, including 900,000 rubles ($9,900) in cash, a Lexus RX350, two homes, and three commercial buildings. Authorities have already recovered 15 million rubles ($148,000) for the Territorial Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund and 260,000 rubles ($2,900) for the medical institution.
No other individuals have been charged in connection with the fraud so far. The ex-director will serve six years in prison, with his assets confiscated to partially cover the stolen funds. The recovered money has been returned to the state medical budget. The case against his wife, however, remains ongoing.
