Two entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg, Dmitry Spodin and Lilia Krentzler, have been arrested on suspicion of attempting to defraud budget funds allocated for the renovation of the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology named after Pasteur. The arrests were announced on June 5 by the United Press Service of the city’s courts.

Investigators believe that Spodin and Krentzler, representing LenProfMontazh LLC, planned to steal funds earmarked for the institute’s renovation. Spodin allegedly created false acceptance certificates and a certificate of work costs under the contract between the institute and the contractor.

Based on these fabricated documents, the pair filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, demanding at least 91.8 million rubles from the Research Institute for allegedly unpaid work. The court initially granted part of the claim, ordering the institute to pay 67.2 million rubles.

However, the alleged scheme was thwarted when the Research Institute appealed the decision. Spodin and Krentzler were detained on June 4 and have not yet been formally charged.

Lenprofmontazh has previously been implicated in cases involving building overhauls. In 2023, the Investigative Committee searched 20 locations connected to the St. Petersburg Capital Repairs Fund and the company, related to contracts for overhauling houses on multiple streets. An audit revealed that the volume of work performed between 2019 and 2020 was overstated, with the city paying in full for incomplete repairs.