They only painted it in the documents: the former director and his subordinate embezzled 580 thousand from the renovation of Kirov's high-rise buildings.

      The law enforcement agencies of the Kirov region have completed the investigation of a criminal case against two individuals — a former director and his subordinate from a municipal state institution. The operational support was provided by employees of the Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the investigative actions were conducted by the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Kirov region.

      As established by the investigation, in the summer of 2024, the officials decided to profit from the improvement of their hometown. They entered into a municipal contract for the current repair of the facades of several apartment buildings in Kirov. A contractor was found, documents were signed, and money was transferred. The problem is that no repairs actually took place. No one painted the facades, no one started plastering, and 580,000 rubles of budget funds were simply embezzled. The scheme worked like clockwork — on paper, the buildings were transformed, but in reality, everything remained the same.

      However, the former director's adventures did not end there. In the spring of 2025, he was caught in another dubious deal. A representative of one of the management companies handed him money as a bribe. In return, the official illegally provided information about the tenants of residential premises in apartment buildings. Why the management company needed someone else's personal data is a question for a separate investigation, but the fact remains: the director violated the law, order, and the trust of the residents.

      Both individuals have been charged under Part 3 of Article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (embezzlement and misappropriation by a group of persons by prior agreement using their official position). The former director was also charged under Part 3 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (receiving a bribe by an official).

      However, this story has an unexpected twist. The defendants fully admitted their guilt, expressed remorse, and voluntarily compensated for the damage — returning all 580,000 to the budget. At the request of the investigators, the court imposed a seizure on the criminals' property. The total value of the seized assets exceeded 3.9 million rubles. So, the stolen half a million could turn out to be the most unprofitable deal of their lives.

      The bribe-giver also faced consequences. A criminal case against the head of the management company has already been sent to the prosecutor for approval of the indictment.

      Now the investigation is complete, the evidence has been gathered, and the materials have been submitted to the court for consideration on the merits. We will soon find out how this story of facade painting only on paper will end.