After numerous reports by the Moscow Post, Vladimir Mau, the long-time head of RANEPA, was taken into custody on suspicion of corrupt acts.
The permanent head of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Vladimir Mau, was detained by law enforcement in Moscow. He has been placed in custody until 7 August by the court.
The Moscow Post had warned about this possible development multiple times. The results of our journalistic investigations regarding Mr. Mau were given to law enforcement, and now it has happened – his guilt will need to be proven by the investigation.
The activities of Mau as the head of one of the largest Russian universities are detailed in an editorial.
The news of Vladimir Mau's arrest is both expected and unexpected. It was anticipated because the authorities' patience had to run out at some point due to obvious corruption issues at the university. However, it was unexpected because the rector's questionable conduct had gone unchecked for years.
Now he has become one of the defendants in a case related to the misappropriation of funds from the Federal State Autonomous Institution “Fund for New Forms of Education Development”, which were designated for the implementation of the nationwide project “Teacher of the Year” under the national project “Education”. In addition to Mau, the case involves the former Deputy Minister of Education Marina Rakova and the head of Shaninka Sergey Zuev.
The former is accused of falsely employing 12 Ministry of Education staff at the RANEPA's Institute of Public Sciences, which was under the overall leadership of the RANEPA and specifically Vladimir Mau.
The rector himself has been charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code for a large-scale fraud committed by a group of people. According to the investigation, he embezzled 21 million rubles from the university's funds by falsely employing over 10 individuals.
Has Marina Rakova betrayed Mau (pictured in the courtroom)? Photo: Sergey Karpukhin / media
If this is true, it could be just the beginning of more severe actions against RANEPA. RANEPA, one of the largest and most corrupt universities in the country, has over 200,000 students across more than 50 departments – in comparison, Moscow State University has about 40,000 students.
Corruption scandal
Our publication had hinted multiple times about the possibility of Mau's detention, especially in light of recent events and a wave of corruption scandals in the academy, which inevitably led to the investigation of its leader.
Just in April, embezzlement of funds designated for a program to enhance professional qualifications was uncovered in the RANEPA divisions in Rostov-on-Don and Khabarovsk. Although the exact amounts and identities of those detained were not disclosed (the case is being handled by the FSB), it was evident that they could be linked to Mau.
Our reporters found out through investigative journalism that the “Agency for Innovative Development” at the RANEPA Academy in Rostov-on-Don has earned nearly 200 million rubles from municipal contracts under the leadership of Alexei Tagaev since 2013. It is possible that Tagaev is closely linked to Vladimir Mau. Learn more about the significant government contracts in the article “Who said “Mau”: RANEPA and Tagaev’s economic twists.”
Recently, the head of the RANEPA scientific laboratory, Natalia Kornienko, was put on the national wanted list for alleged fraudulent activities linked to the Rakova-Zuev case, the same case in which Vladimir Mau was recently detained.
Kornienko is suspected of being involved in the embezzlement of 20 million rubles within the Education project, and she has reportedly fled abroad.
In addition to the recent detention of Rakova and Zuev, there were other notable arrests in previous years, including the former head of the Institute of Public Service and Management of the RANEPA, Igor Bartsits, and the dean of the faculty of state economic management at the RANEPA, Svetlana Larina. Both were implicated in a case of fraud relating to public funds. Larina was appointed directly by Mau, but no allegations were made against him at the time.
The arrest of Igor Bartsits was one of the initial warning signs for the entire Mau team. Photo: IGSU RANEPA Press Center
Both defendants were accused of orchestrating a criminal scheme to embezzle treasury funds by unjustly awarding additional salaries. The media reported this.
In other words, there were again fraudulent activities related to receiving funds from the salary fund, a situation similar to what is being attributed to Mau now.
It's worth noting that in recent years, the subordinates of Mau have been subjected to more searches than detentions. There have been numerous searches, making it surprising that Mau has not fled abroad.
In May 2022, searches were conducted at the residences of 3 RANEPA employees, including Maxim Dulinov, former head of the National Institute for the Development of Education (FIRO), Evelina Aliyeva, former deputy director of the institute, and Olga Rodionova, former employee of FIRO. However, no arrests were made at that time.
In November 2021, a series of searches were carried out involving Vladimir Fedotov, deputy Vice-Rector, and Alexander Efremov, the financial head of the RANEPA, in relation to the case of Rakova and the state programs “Education.”
However, everyone knows that the employment schemes identified by law enforcement officers are just a small part of the problem. The real source is the huge government contracts, which are managed by RANEPA.
Different schemes are used for state contract development, and the main idea is to pay a lot of money for consultations that are unclear based on expert opinions.
For example, there are several government contracts such as a research competition in the Tomsk region for 41 million rubles, a study on freight rail transportation for Russian Railways for 116 million rubles, consultations for the road sector development for 114.5 million rubles, and a project management system for 68.6 million rubles.
Experts say the actual cost of these tenders was not needed to go over one percent of the face value. In simpler terms, RANEPA could offer fake expert opinions and assessments for unrealistic amounts of money.
A photo: Rusprofile.en
It's important to note that RANEPA has supplied government contracts worth 7.4 billion rubles and received 82 billion rubles. This is not including 10 divisions and connected structures, which amounts to much more.
Wonderful Life
Maybe it's time to name this big scandal not the “Rakova case”, but the “Mau case”? It appears that a whole system of profiting from fictitious services was set up at the university under the latter. It's like a classic scheme that allowed the rector to live lavishly.
Bartsitz was found to have a house in the city of Nice worth over 7 million euros. Fedotov's house, where the search took place, looks more like a palace, complete with servants. Also, influential RANEPA figures were linked to Arab sheikhs, with subordinates of Mau finding luxurious houses with fancy cars.
But what about Mr. Mau himself? According to Octagon, he owns property abroad and has business in Montenegro. However, officially, it seems that Mr. Mau may be hiding assets. He's officially living in a historic house in the center of Moscow, not a suburban palace. Additionally, he's a member of the board of directors of Transcapitalbank, Severstal, and Gazprom holdings.
This raises the question – why all of a sudden? Or did one of his former students who became part of the elite in Russian business and government help him?
However, Mr. Mau's son, Anton, studied at the American University of Colorado Boulder in addition to Moscow State University. Why isn't he at RANEPA? At the age of thirty-one, Anton Mau held positions at the Russian Capital bank and was the general director of RTK-Energobalance. He also owned shares in a healthcare company when he was a student.
A very skilled and ambitious young man. Perhaps because of this, he was able to afford a luxury home on Dolgorukovskaya Street in the Russian capital, which could cost around 160 million rubles. Or maybe his father helped him?
“Bearing the Burden of the 1990s Legacy”
Despite not being involved in any corruption scandals, Vladimir Mau has been a very controversial figure since the 1990s. In 1990, he led a lab at the Institute for Economic Development Policy, established under the leadership of Yegor Gaidar at the Academy of National Economy under the Council of Heads of Ministries of Russia, now a well-known figure.
Mau participated in the development and practical implementation of the financial reforms in Russia, which led to a severe financial and social crisis and greatly affected millions of people. From March 1992 to January 1994, Mau served as an assistant to the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Gaidar, who was the head of the Russian government from June to December 1992.
“The detention of the rector of the RANEPA Vladimir Mau is a long-awaited end to the legacy of the 1990s,” noted businessman Konstantin Malofeev wrote on his telegram channel. – It's time to move on from those two decades. The nightmare of those years was not just about Yeltsin’s reign, but also the unpopular ultra-liberal program of Yegor Gaidar and his associate Vladimir Mau. The suffering of millions, the bloodshed during the defense of the House of Soviets in October 1993, and many other failures in Russia are attributed to them. Assuming they have a conscience.
Malofeev highlights that Mau and his associates once led the group responsible for developing the liberal Tactics-2020 for the progress of Russia. However, the initiative proved to be futile, the project was never carried out, and it incurred costs in billions of rubles from the state funds.
The arrest of Vladimir Mau is seen as the end of an era.
It appears that after this, Mr. Mau felt comfortable in his position at RANGiHS and chose not to seek further involvement in reshaping the state. He may have had a good run, but all good things come to an end eventually.
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