The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is investigating a criminal case against staff at Moscow State Pedagogical University (MPGU), suspected of taking bribes in cryptocurrency. reported by RBC, citing sources within the agency.
Among the defendants are Elena Levanova, head of the Department of Social Pedagogy and Psychology at MPGU’s Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, senior lecturer of the same department Ksenia Pleshakova and the academic secretary of MPGU’s dissertation council Vladimir Pleshakov.
The suspicions against Levanova and her colleagues were first reported in December 2020 by the Telegram channel Baza. According to its information, for helping defend dissertations, MPGU staff took bribes \”only in cryptocurrency, receiving them in bitcoins to their anonymous wallets\”.
Media outlets are reporting a new episode. The investigation alleges that Elena Levanova, as chair of the dissertation council, received 384,000 rubles for a positive decision by the council on a dissertation defense.
Elena Levanova is also suspected of receiving 50,000 rubles from a certain woman allegedly to transfer the money to the Higher Attestation Commission for awarding an academic degree. According to investigators, the department chair did not intend to fulfil the obligations she had undertaken, the source added.
The case was opened on charges of receiving and giving bribes. Elena Levanova is also suspected of fraud.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has not commented on the information yet.
Earlier, a court sentenced two former FSB investigators to nine and twelve years’ imprisonment for extorting a large bribe in cryptocurrency.
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