Forged Signatures Scandal at Rostov Special Nursing Home

Aksay District Court has begun hearing the case of Rosa Kuznetsova — director of the Krasnosulinsky special nursing home. She is accused of corruption by subordinates whom Kuznetsova herself suspected of fraud. A 161.RU correspondent learned how the judicial investigation began and what new evidence emerged.

In winter 2024, Rosa Kuznetsova returned from maternity leave to the Krasnosulinsky nursing home, where she worked as director. Colleagues and residents complained to her that employees had appeared at the home who were extorting money from the elderly and selling alcohol. Kuznetsova found evidence of this, but law enforcement refused to open cases. The director fired the unreliable employees, and they themselves went to the police and accused Kuznetsova of soliciting bribes. A case was opened against Rosa. She spent eight months in pre-trial detention. Moreover, the case contains neither any money actually found on Kuznetsova nor any recording of a bribe transfer. Only the testimony of two complainants — the very people whom Kuznetsova caught committing crimes.

Two hearings on the case have already been held at Aksay District Court. The parties are beginning to present evidence and question witnesses.

Rosa Kuznetsova’s defense lawyers told 161.RU that they found signs of forgery of the investigator’s signature in the case files. We are talking about three orders from last summer.

The lawyers commissioned an independent handwriting examination (the results are in the possession of 161.RU. — Ed.). It confirmed that the signatures in the documents were not made by the investigator but by another person. Notably, the forgery was even present in orders that were later signed by the head of the Directorate of the Investigative Committee (SK) for the Rostov Region, Aslan Khuade.

“In their conclusion, the forensic expert described in detail, using photographs of the signatures, the signs and grounds on which he concluded that the signatures attributed to the investigator belonged to another person,” the defense lawyers for Rosa Kuznetsova stated.

According to the lawyers, the forgery of signatures is grounds for opening cases under several articles at once. Among them, for example, ‘Abuse of Official Powers’ and ‘Exceeding Official Powers.’ Moreover, this is grounds for returning the case to the prosecutor.

“Of course, we wanted to [return the case to the prosecutor], because the documents mentioned in the examination indicate falsification during the investigation. If the order to resume the investigation is forged, then how was it resumed?” said the defendant’s husband, Denis Kuznetsov, in a conversation with 161.RU.

Rosa Kuznetsova’s defense lawyers sent statements about the falsification of materials to the head of the Rostov Investigative Committee, Aslan Khuade; the regional prosecutor, Roman Praskov; and the Prosecutor General of Russia, Alexander Gutsan.

“For two months, there has been no response from the head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Rostov Region, Khuade, and prosecutor Praskov, to the statements about the crime. No verification of the forgery of the investigator’s signature in the procedural documents has been carried out. <...> How do these arguments remain ignored in the presence of such serious violations? Why are higher authorities not conducting an inspection?” said Rosa Kuznetsova’s lawyers.

The editorial board of 161.RU sent inquiries to the Investigative Committee directorate and the regional prosecutor’s office regarding the examination conducted by Rosa Kuznetsova’s lawyers. It was not possible to obtain responses promptly.

Throughout the investigation of Rosa Kuznetsova’s case at the Krasnosulinsky special nursing home, where, according to employees, they gather “people who are no longer wanted anywhere,” the situation worsened. There was an outbreak of scabies, patients died from bedsores, there were interruptions in food supply, and employees complained of pressure.

We detail this criminal case and the scandalous nursing home in a separate story.