Former head of Smolninskoye arrested in fraud case

The former head of the Smolninskoye municipal formation, Grigory Rankov, was detained on January 23, and charges were brought against him the same day.

On January 24, the Smolninsky District Court of St. Petersburg granted the investigation«s motion and placed Rankov under house arrest for two months.

He is charged with large-scale fraud under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code and abuse of official authority under Part 2 of Article 285. The maximum penalties for these articles are 10 and 7 years in prison, respectively.

According to the investigation, from 2021 to 2024, Rankov, while serving as head of Smolninskoye, registered a citizen P. as a cleaner and courier, although she did not actually perform work duties. Over 2.3 million rubles (approximately $23,000 at current rates) were transferred to her account, which were then moved to the account of former deputy head of administration Svetlana Zaichkina (identified in the case as Z.) and others. The municipality also paid insurance and tax contributions amounting to about 500,000 rubles (approximately $5,000 at current rates). The total damage is estimated at nearly 2.85 million rubles (approximately $28,500 at current rates).

Furthermore, the investigation claims that Rankov organized a scheme under which municipal employees received bonuses from savings in the payroll fund on the condition of returning part of the money. Zaichkina was to return at least half of the bonus, other employees at least 10%. A total of 1.176 million rubles (approximately $11,800 at current rates) was returned, which investigators believe Rankov used at his discretion.

Earlier, in the fall of 2025, searches were conducted at the Smolninskoye administration with the participation of FSB and police officers. The reason was the discovery of so-called «dead souls» on the payroll.