Overview
- Law enforcement confirmed searches at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions on December 25 as part of a criminal case into suspected fraud.
- Media citing investigative materials report the case targets unidentified members of the leadership over allegedly inflated research costs and false submissions to the Science and Labor ministries.
- Estimated losses cited in reports range from at least 20 million to 26.9 million rubles, with the complaint attributed to the university’s temporary administration and covering 2021–2025.
- In October, an arbitration court ordered key university properties nationalized; the rector’s powers were later formally restored, though first vice rector Larisa Paseshnikova is acting while he receives treatment.
- Officials have not named suspects or detailed charges, and reports describe document and equipment seizures during searches at the campus and, according to an employee account, at some staff residences.