News

Sofya Apfelbaum detained on suspicion of fraud

The Major Cases Directorate of the Investigative Committee continues investigating stealing of money allocated in 2011-2014 to ANO Seventh Studio as part of Platform project. Investigative and search operations have established that former director of art and folk arts state support department of the Russian Ministry of Culture Sofya Apfelbaum, currently – director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater, was involved in the crime.

According to investigators, in 2011-2014, Apfelbaum conspired with the artistic director of Seventh Studio Serebrennikov and signed on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Culture agreements on providing more than 214 million rubles in subsidies to the Seventh Studio and then arranged for the approval of the reports containing overestimated figures on the number and cost of the events. This way, she helped Serebrennikov and other people to defraud the Ministry of at least 68 million rubles.

Apfelbaum’s guilt in the fraud is confirmed by statements of witnesses, protocols of questionings, results of investigative and search operations, financial documents seized during the probe and other evidence.

Apfelbaum is going to be charged with fraud committed by an organized group on a very large scale under Part 4 of Article 159 of the RF Criminal Code. The Investigators are going to ask courts to place her in custody pending trial.

 

Spokesperson for the Investigative Committee                                                                                                 S. Petrenko