Altai Krai lawmakers detained in fraud scheme
The two deputies are accused of embezzling over 4.6 million rubles through fictitious employment schemes.
A major corruption scandal is unfolding in Altai Krai involving deputies of the regional legislative assembly. On February 5, it became known that Yuri Kropotin and Andrey Chernobay, along with an assistant to one of them, were detained. They are suspected of large-scale fraud committed through fictitious employment.
According to the press service of the regional investigative department, deputy Andrey Chernobay, a member of the AKZS committee on sports, culture and youth policy, organized the fictitious employment of a party member as his assistant between 2022 and 2025. He submitted forged documents supposedly confirming that this person had performed work duties in the legislative body. As a result of these schemes, more than 2.4 million rubles (approximately $26,700 at current exchange rates) were transferred from the budget, which investigators believe Chernobay used at his own discretion.
A similar scheme, according to investigators, was used by AKZS deputy chairman and Communist Party faction member Yuri Kropotin together with the chief accountant of the party’s regional branch. From 2021 to 2025, they arranged the fictitious employment of a woman as an assistant and embezzled more than 2.2 million rubles (approximately $24,400 at current exchange rates) from the budget.
Criminal cases have been opened under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code (fraud committed on an especially large scale) regarding both incidents. The crimes were uncovered by operatives of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) directorate for Altai Krai.
It is worth noting that this is not the first such case in Altai Krai. Earlier, a criminal case for fraud involving 3 million rubles (approximately $33,300 at current exchange rates) was opened against AKZS deputy from the Communist Party Lyudmila Klyushnikova and her assistant Svetlana Kerber.
