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Compensation cut: how criminals involved disabled people in embezzlement from the Social Fund
Dozens of people with disabilities were involved in a large-scale scheme involving the embezzlement of funds from the Russian Social Fund, it became known on May 21 from a message from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The criminals forged documents on the purchase of expensive wheelchairs and other rehabilitation equipment for the disabled, and then presented the fakes to the Social Fund of the Chelyabinsk region to receive compensation. 30 criminal cases have been initiated, 55 people are suspected and accused of them, and the estimated damage could reach 1 billion rubles. People with disabilities quite often take part in criminal schemes for the sake of additional income, representatives of NGOs working with this social group admit. Fictitious purchase or resale of rehabilitation products is one such method. The details of the involvement of disabled people in criminal schemes are in the Izvestia material.
How criminals deceived the Social Fund
The involvement of people with disabilities in criminal schemes related to receiving compensation from the Social Fund of Russia is a common practice, representatives of non—profit organizations working with people with disabilities admit. First of all, this concerns the purchase of very expensive vehicles, such as electric wheelchairs.
For example, according to Russian law, a certain group of people with disabilities must be provided with such a wheelchair every five years. A person can buy it himself, and then apply to the Social Fund and receive compensation in money.
— An electric wheelchair is quite expensive — sometimes more than 300 thousand rubles. Through the disabled, who are legally allowed this wheelchair, scammers buy it, then receive compensation from the Social Fund, and the wheelchair itself is resold further. People with disabilities are promised some share," Svetlana Nosacheva, president of the charity foundation Without Barriers, told Izvestia.
Such fraudulent schemes even apply to hygiene products such as diapers. The disabled person buys them, the Social Fund compensates him for the money spent, and then the diapers return to circulation.
— There are outlets that can take back these diapers and sell them again. That is, there are a sufficient number of schemes that allow you to convert into real money the benefits that people with disabilities are entitled to," said Svetlana Nosacheva.
It was one of these schemes that the operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia revealed, the official representative of the department Irina Volk reported on May 21. According to her, it was previously established that the criminal group included individual entrepreneurs and merchants. They were looking for people with disabilities and involved them in illegal activities. The attackers created fictitious documents on the purchase of rehabilitation equipment and transferred these papers to the regional offices of the Social Fund of Russia to receive compensation payments. They operated, in particular, in the Chelyabinsk region.
The already established amount of damage is more than 60 million rubles, and the estimated amount may reach 1 billion, Irina Volk noted. The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Chelyabinsk region has initiated 30 criminal cases, involving 55 suspects and accused.
Similar episodes
This is not the first time criminals have used such a scheme. So, in February 2026, the trial of Anatoly Shashurin, a well-known coach in the region, took place in Tyumen. He worked with athletes with disabilities. But along the way, according to investigators, he involved 14 people with disabilities in a scheme of embezzlement of budget funds.
— He helped to arrange forged documents confirming the purchase of rehabilitation equipment (prostheses, orthopedic shoes, wheelchairs). The disabled people who colluded with the accused provided the authorized body with deliberately false information about their purchase of technical rehabilitation equipment, on the basis of which they received compensation payments, the press service of the Prosecutor's office of the Tyumen region reported.
The damage exceeded 6 million rubles. After the criminal case was initiated, Shashurin fled Russia, and had to be extradited from Ecuador. The court sentenced him to four years in prison, suspended with a probation period of three years.
Another conman from the Tyumen region colluded with a friend of the disabled group I, the prosecutor's office of the region reported. From August 2022 to January 2023, he received fictitious receipts for the purchase of prosthetic forearms. The disabled person applied to the local Pension Fund for compensation. Thus, the accomplices illegally received 600 thousand rubles.
Possible motives and punishment
Svetlana Nosacheva is sure that people with disabilities who are involved in criminal schemes are not always motivated solely by selfish motives. They have a stable pension, many of them are employed, including with the help of specialized NGOs, and have sufficient income.
— Another question is that some people have additional needs, for example, for medicines. The state does not always provide them with free medicines prescribed by law on time. Of course, in this case, people will look for ways to earn money," Nosacheva explained.
Disability can become a mitigating circumstance in court, but all participants in criminal activity will be criminally liable, the lawyers explained to Izvestia.
— Disability of group I is a mandatory mitigating circumstance. For groups II and III, the decision remains at the discretion of the court. The judge has the right to take into account the state of health, but not to release from liability if proven guilty," Albert Khaleyan, partner of the Vector Prime Moscow Bar Association, told Izvestia.
In addition, the court will assess the degree of a person's dependence on others, as well as whether his vulnerable position was exploited by the organizers of the scheme, said Oleg Kim, lawyer and partner at Legal Advisor Law Firm.
"In practice, courts are more likely to use more lenient measures against people with disabilities, especially when they play a secondary role in a crime — suspended sentences, fines, or punishments unrelated to actual imprisonment," he said.
According to the article "Fraud", the defendants in the case face up to six years in prison for each episode. And for organizing a criminal community (one of 30 criminal cases has been initiated in the Chelyabinsk region under this article) — up to 20 years, the lawyers noted.
— The timing depends on the specific role, the number of episodes and evidence, and the final charge that will be brought. The actual term will be determined by the court individually,— Albert Khaleyan said.
In such cases, the main responsibility, as a rule, falls on the organizers of the scheme and the persons who were engaged in registration of fictitious documents, distribution of funds and coordination of participants, Oleg Kim explained.
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