08:28, 20 June 2024Source:
Former employees of the Novosibirsk Scientific Center for Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” were detained on suspicion of embezzling company funds. TASS reports this with reference to the press service of the regional department of the FSB. RIA Novosti clarifies that two ex-employees have been detained
According to investigators, the head of the research center’s site, who was fired in 2024, organized a fraudulent scheme. It consisted of renegotiating contracts at a reduced cost with commercial companies “to provide them with services for the collection and transportation of medical waste of III-IV hazard classes for subsequent neutralization at the Vector center.”
The collection of hazardous waste, according to the FSB, was to be carried out by individual entrepreneurs registered in the name of the suspect’s relatives. In fact, the work was carried out by Vector employees, and payments for services rendered from 2013 to 2024 were transferred through fictitious individual entrepreneurs to the accounts of the site manager and his relatives. The FSB estimated the damage caused to Vector at six million rubles.
The former head of the Vector site is also suspected of receiving a bribe on an especially large scale “for assistance in non-competitive procurement at inflated prices of packaging for medical waste.” His wife and a former employee of the center are also involved in the case.
The Department of the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region opened a criminal case under articles of fraud using official position (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and taking a bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The FSB and the Investigative Committee do not disclose the names of those detained. The FSB report states that it was possible to establish the fraudulent scheme “with the assistance of the center’s management.”
“Vector” is one of the largest scientific virological and biotechnological centers in Russia, it is located in the science city of Koltsovo, Novosibirsk region and reports to Rospotrebnadzor. The center was founded in 1974. In 2020, Vector created a vaccine against coronavirus, EpiVacCorona, which was registered by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation without conducting clinical studies on effectiveness. According to research by Meduza and the European University, this vaccine was ineffective.
(C)MEDUZA 2024