Ex-Oymyakonsky head gets suspended sentence for embezzling budget

Innokenty Sivtsev, the former head of Oymyakonsky District in Yakutia, has been sentenced to 5 years of suspended imprisonment for fraud and large-scale embezzlement of budget funds using his official position. This was reported on January 22 in the Telegram channel of the Unified Press Service of the Courts.

Innokenty Sivtsev won the elections in 2019, with 58.4% of voters supporting him. Sivtsev was born in the village of Tomtor in Oymyakonsky District on April 23, 1984. Before becoming head, he was the first deputy director of the State Budgetary Institution «Service for Operational and Technical Support of Yakutia».

The court found that while in office as district head, Sivtsev organized several criminal schemes in 2021. In December 2021, the former head colluded with the head of the Municipal Budgetary Institution «Service for Infrastructure Development and Organizational-Legal Support of Oymyakonsky District» and approved an order for the payment of an illegal bonus from savings in the payroll fund. The bonus amounted to 2.8 million rubles (approximately $31,000 at current rates), which they divided among themselves.

In addition, on behalf of the district administration, Sivtsev concluded a fictitious municipal contract for the repair of premises in the settlement of Ust-Nera for 590,000 rubles (approximately $6,600 at current rates). The work was not carried out, but the head organized the acceptance and payment, and later cashed out and spent the money.

Another episode is linked to the «Fund for Assistance to Socio-Economic Development of Oymyakonsky District». The former head deceived the fund«s chairman and convinced him to pay for contract work at the »Chyyskhaana Residence« — a tourist complex near the village of Tomtor. 1.6 million rubles (approximately $18,000 at current rates) were transferred to the contractor»s account, which Sivtsev also spent on personal needs.

In 2024, the Oymyakonsky District Court found the former head guilty of misappropriation or embezzlement on a particularly large scale using his official position and fraud, sentencing him to 5 years of suspended imprisonment, as well as a ban on holding leadership positions for 3 years. The court also granted civil claims and ordered the former head to compensate for the damage in full.

The verdict was reviewed in March 2025 in the Supreme Court, which changed the suspended sentence to actual imprisonment, and the defendant was taken into custody. However, in October 2025, the Ninth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction overturned the decision and the case was reconsidered. Actual imprisonment was again replaced with a suspended sentence, and the ban on holding leadership positions was revoked.