According to the telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU, the Lefortovo Court of Moscow arrested the vice-rector of the RANEPA and at the same time the rector of the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev. He is charged with embezzlement by fraud. Sinelnikov-Murylev is a friend and "right hand" of the ex-rector of the RANEPA Vladimir Mau. Rucriminal.info back in 2020 spoke about the embezzlement schemes created by Sinelnikov-Murylev and about his real estate in France. The same information is listed on the website of the Moscow City Court. However, the press service of the court stated that on April 27, 2023, in relation to the rector of the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Sergey Germanovich Sinelnikov-Murylev, a suspect in the case of embezzlement (part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest was chosen for 1 month 23 days, that is, until June 19, 2023.
Our sources told how the events that led to the arrest of Sinelnikov-Murylev developed
The sudden departure to Israel of RANEPA Rector Vladimir Mau, an ex-defendant in a criminal case on fraud on an especially large scale, was the result of a collapse of the deal with the security forces and the nullification of informal agreements with the founder of the university, a source familiar with the situation said. Therefore, a new wave of searches and arrests followed at the RANEPA, aimed at clearing the site for a new team. Sinelnikov-Murylev became a victim of this wave. To this end, a rigorous review of government contracts and other agreements was initiated, concluded with the participation of a number of vice-rectors, who for many years enriched themselves by combining positions and fictitious participation in scientific and educational projects in the structures of the Academy under their control.
According to insider information from the RANEPA, before spring, Rector Mau had to resolve a number of delicate personnel and financial issues, including with respect to large divisions of the Academy in Yekaterinburg, Khabarovsk and St. Petersburg. These tasks have been generally achieved. At the same time, Mau was expected to be transferred to the position of scientific director of the university, similar to the trajectory of the ex-rector of the Higher School of Economics Yaroslav Kuzminov, but with the condition of complete departure from the RANEPA by the fall of 2023. In return, the founder promised to participate in the public (and not only) rehabilitation of Mau. In addition, Mau asked not to touch people important to him, primarily Sinelnikov-Murylev, allowing them to leave their work at the RANEPA without consequences. Vice-rectors Fedotov, Ershova, Arakelyan, financial director Efremov and several other people were also mentioned.
However, according to a Rucriminal.info source, the situation soon took an unexpected development for the current rector. As a result, the deal with the security forces, in which Mau agreed to tacit cooperation with the investigation and provided the security forces with sensitive information on high-ranking officials of interest to the Service, failed. Rather, only her first condition was fulfilled - the termination of the criminal prosecution of Mau, the abolition of house arrest and a written undertaking not to leave. The second part of the agreement to stop all "excavations" at the Academy, obviously, initially did not fit into the real intentions of the security forces.
So, contrary to expectations, Mau faced an increase in investigative measures against the persons he lobbied. The rector also received confidential information about the upcoming audit of the multimillion-dollar incomes of RANEPA vice-rectors Dmitry Butashin, Dmitry Arefiev and Maxim Nazarov, accrued annually outside of pay according to the staffing table (part-time jobs, compensation and incentive payments, participation in research projects). According to the information published on the university’s website on the earnings of the RANEPA leadership for their position, in 2021 alone, these official payments amounted to their main income of 15, 14 and 12 million rubles, respectively. Law enforcement officers also have information about available "family contracts". In addition, along with the cancellation of the Gaidar Forum, Rector Mau received a signal about the upcoming inspections of the organization of the Forum and other major events that are non-transparently financed by the Presidential Academy on an especially large scale.
Informal agreements with the founder of the RANEPA also turned out to be a fiction. Firstly, Mau failed to approve his candidate for the post of rector of the Presidential Academy from among the current vice-rectors of the university. The candidate proposed by Mau was not even included in the preliminary list of 6 people. As for Mau, the refusal to approve his candidate was a confirmation of the loss of support from the founder and a de facto nullification of the September agreements. All this testified to one thing: despite the termination of the criminal prosecution on October 4 and the withdrawal of all charges, a fundamental decision was made at the top regarding the “illuminated” rector and the corresponding guidelines were put into effect.
To be continued
Denis Zhirnov
Source: www.rucriminal.info
