The rector of “Shaninka” Sergei Zuev will be transferred from the pre-trial detention center to a civil hospital for examination

The rector of the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences (“Shaninki”), Sergei Zuev, was sent from the remand prison to a civil hospital, said Alexander Khurudzhi, a member of the Moscow POC. According to him, Zuev will be examined by a vascular surgeon at the medical institution. This decision, according to a member of the PMC, was made in the medical unit of the pre-trial detention center because of the “need to adjust the treatment” of the arrested person.

“We found Zuev going down the stairs with a cane, when he was supposed to be taken to a medical institution in Moscow for examination by a specialist – a vascular surgeon. They took him for examination in our presence, ”- told Khuruji to Interfax.

After the last court session, Zuev’s pressure rose to almost 180. On December 22, the rector’s daughter went to a picket near the building of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, demanding to soften the measure of restraint for her father, for which stay in the pre-trial detention center poses a mortal threat.

On December 21, the Moscow City Court left Zuev in a pre-trial detention center until March 7, although the defense asked the court to release him on bail of two million rubles. Doctors said he could have a stroke that would lead to amputation of his limbs. According to Zuev’s wife, his condition worsens, he needs the advice of external specialists, including a cardiologist, and not just a vascular surgeon.

The rector of Shaninka and director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the RANEPA Sergei Zuev was detained in October in the case of the former Deputy Minister of Education Marina Rakova. He is suspected of stealing 21 million rubles from the Fund for New Forms of Education Development. The rector was initially placed under house arrest, but on November 9, the Moscow City Court placed Zuev in a pre-trial detention center, despite having undergone heart surgery after several hypertensive crises. The measure of restraint was changed at the request of the prosecutor’s office.

Rakova, according to the investigation, as deputy head of the Ministry of Education received state funding for a project for the Fund for New Forms of Education Development, which she herself headed. In addition, she stole funds when concluding government contracts for the implementation of the Teacher of the Future project in 2019, investigators say. Shaninka was the contractor for the Teacher of the Future.

According to the findings of the investigative expertise, reports on ongoing scientific research have signs of falsification.

Zuev’s defense said that the case involved two contracts with an initial value of 50 million rubles. However, during the year they were not executed in full and were terminated by agreement of the parties. By that time, the performers had already received 21 million rubles.

On November 25, Zuev was charged in a criminal case on fictitious employment of employees of the Ministry of Education.

As reported in the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigator of the Moscow headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs charged Zuev with a crime under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud committed by an organized group or on an especially large scale).

According to the investigation, in 2018 Zuev, together with the former Deputy Minister of Education Marina Rakova and the former Deputy Director General of the Foundation for New Forms of Education Development Yevgeny Zak, entered into a criminal conspiracy to steal funds from the RANEPA Institute.

Investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that 12 people were fictitiously employed at the RANEPA institute. It was possible to identify violations during the investigation of the criminal case initiated against Rakova, accused of fraud.

According to the investigators, these employees “did not actually carry out any work in the educational organization, but at the same time they received regular salaries for a long time.”

Earlier, similar charges were brought against Rakova and Zak.