The scheme of illegal trade in biomaterials from the morgue was revealed in St. Petersburg

A criminal scheme of trafficking in biomaterials of deceased people, which were supplied by employees of the morgue of one of the city hospitals, has been uncovered in St. Petersburg. This was announced on February 6 by the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk.

The crime was investigated by the Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region together with employees of Rosfinmonitoring.

It has been established that the management of one of the city's hospitals has been helping to illegally export body parts of deceased citizens for a long time for a fee. Most often they were people who led an antisocial lifestyle and had no close relatives.

"In the future, biomaterials were transferred to various commercial organizations and used by them as prototypes in the field of cosmetology, surgery and dentistry," Volk said.

Representatives of research organizations were allowed to conduct autopsies of bodies in the morgue without paperwork. At the same time, the bodies of the deceased were sometimes replaced so that relatives who happened to be found would not suspect the hospital management of a crime.

The Main Investigation Department (GSU) of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia in St. Petersburg has opened criminal cases under art. 286 ("Abuse of official authority"), art. 290 ("Taking a bribe"), and art. 291 of the Criminal Code ("Giving a bribe to an official").

The founder of a commercial organization that manufactured anatomical biomodels, as well as the head of the pathology department of the hospital, were detained. They are preparing to choose a preventive measure for them.

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In December 2025, it was reported that a citizen of Ukraine, who is suspected of 56 transactions in illegal trafficking in human organs, was extradited to Kazakhstan from Poland. According to the investigation, in 2017-2018, she was part of an organized group and engaged in the search for donors and the support of illegal organ purchase and sale operations. In total, the group members have organized 56 such transactions.

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