Omsk Orphans Lose 25 Apartments; Investigative Committee Names Suspect
Authorities estimate the loss to the Omsk region budget at over 61 million rubles (approximately $678,000 at current rates) from the inflated apartment deals.
Vitaly Samozvon, the director of the Omsk Region Property Maintenance and Operation Department, is to be prosecuted for abuse of power after buying apartments for orphans at above-market prices, the regional prosecutor«s office said.
According to the investigation, from January 2022 to October 2024, Samozvon signed 81 contracts with entrepreneurs to purchase housing for orphans, with the contracts listing inflated prices that allowed him to use all state-allocated funds and receive performance bonuses.
«Thus, as a result of the inefficient use of targeted funds, the budget of the Omsk Region suffered damage of more than 61 million rubles (approximately $678,000 at current rates), which could have been used to buy 25 apartments for orphan children,» the Investigative Committee added.
Samozvon has not admitted guilt. His property has been seized with a total value of 9 million rubles (approximately $100,000 at current rates), and the case has been forwarded to the Central District Court for trial.
Previously, a former deputy head of the Omsk Region Center for Accounting and Property Maintenance was prosecuted for similar fraud involving housing for orphans.
