Russia detains Rosmolodezh deputy head and Synergy University vice-rector in fraud case
Russian authorities have detained Denis Ashirov, deputy head of the federal youth affairs agency Rosmolodezh, and Mikhail Yerofeyev, vice-rector of the private Synergy University, in a probe into contract funds. The university says the work was completed and the courses functioned.
Denis Ashirov, deputy head of Russia's federal youth affairs agency Rosmolodezh, has been detained in a fraud investigation tied to contracts with Moscow's private Synergy University, sources told RBC. Authorities also searched the university and detained its vice-rector, Mikhail Yerofeyev, according to REN TV and TASS.
Kommersant reported that Yerofeyev is suspected of stealing money while fulfilling a government contract and is being held in a temporary detention facility. The probe concerns a contract worth 31.5 million rubles that Synergy won in 2023.
Investigators' version
Investigators say subcontractors did most of the work of building an online professional development course, spending no more than 13.5 million rubles. The university, however, was paid in full once the work was accepted. Investigators believe its management may have stolen or embezzled the remaining 18 million rubles. Kommersant added that the resulting courses turned out to be unusable in practice.
The university's position
Synergy said the searches and other investigative steps relate to two government contracts signed with Rosmolodezh in 2023 and 2024. It maintains that it finished the work on time and that the programs it produced "actually worked": more than 50,000 people completed the training, and over 36,000 received professional development certificates.
The university also said it is operating as usual and cooperating with investigators. According to its statement, a case was opened over an alleged crime without naming specific employees, and nobody has been charged. It did not comment on Yerofeyev's detention.
Synergy grew out of the Moscow Higher Banking School in 1995, received state accreditation in the mid-2000s and is now one of Russia's largest private universities.
