Former post office head jailed in Karachay-Cherkessia over Ingushetian pension fraud case

A court in Karachay–Cherkessia has sentenced Rodimkhan Kartoeva, the former head of a village post office in Ingushetia, to four and a half years in prison for her role in a criminal scheme that defrauded the Russian state of more than ₽2 billion ($24 million).

The city court of Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, found Kartoeva guilty on five counts of large-scale fraud and participation in a criminal organisation. The case was heard under a special procedure after the defendant entered into a plea deal and fully admitted her guilt.

According to investigators, Kartoeva played a role in an elaborate scheme between 2019 and 2021 that involved the illegal registration of pensions and social benefits. Members of the group forged documents to obtain payouts for fictitious individuals, siphoning massive sums from Russia’s Pension Fund.

Kartoeva was charged with participating in a criminal organisation while holding a public position and of committing fraud by an organised group on a particularly large scale.

Her conviction is the latest in a sweeping investigation that has led to the detentions of at least 34 individuals, including former officials from the pension fund and the state-owned Russian Post. Among the accused is Magomed-Bashir Kalimatov, the former head of Ingushetia’s local Russian Post and brother of the republic’s current head, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov. Magomed-Bashir Kalimatov was arrested in May 2024 and is facing eight charges of fraud and criminal conspiracy.

The scheme, investigators allege, was orchestrated by Islam Seynaroev, then head of the Ingushetian Pension Fund, and Kambulat Sukiev, the regional director of Russian Post. The two are said to have recruited subordinates across various branches to help implement the corruption scheme, which included falsifying pension records and funnelling funds to bank accounts controlled by the conspirators.

According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the group conducted unauthorised pension recalculations without beneficiaries’ knowledge. The extra funds were then transferred to accounts held by the regional branches of Russian Post before being cashed out. While legitimate pension payments were distributed through the postal network, the surplus funds — disguised as recalculations — were embezzled. Falsified documentation was used to conceal the thefts.

On 5 May, Seynaroev was detained in Turkey. Russian authorities claim he had been living there while operating a fruit import business and renting out luxury villas in partnership with a former Ingushetian deputy interior minister.

Kartoeva’s sentencing follows a separate February ruling in the same case, according to which an unnamed deputy head of the pension fund’s department for pension calculations in Ingushetia was sentenced to four years in prison.

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OC MediaElizaveta Chukharova