The former deputy prime minister of North Ossetia is suspected of receiving a large bribe.
The Investigative Committee of North Ossetia has opened criminal cases against former Deputy Prime Minister Larisa Tuganova and her son. They are suspected of receiving a large bribe and acting as an intermediary in bribery.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, in October 2024, State Advisor to the Head of North Ossetia Larisa Tuganova was arrested in absentia on suspicion of organizing an "illegal scheme" involving state contracts at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.
On September 13, 2024, security forces detained Minister of Labor and Social Development of North Ossetia Alina Aidarova and several ministry employees. Aidarova was arrested for a month, until October 11, but on September 28, it was reported that she and Irina Bugulova, an employee of the Department for Organization of Material Support, Public Procurement, and Integrated Security, were transferred to house arrest at the request of investigators. The criminal case was investigated under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code (abuse of power by a group of persons by prior conspiracy), which carries a sentence of three to 10 years in prison. According to investigators, from January 2022 to May 2023, ministry officials illegally awarded 53 government contracts to a single supplier for the supply of goods worth over 35 million rubles. In March 2025, Alina Aidarova was found guilty of abuse of power and sentenced to three years' probation.
Investigators in North Ossetia have opened criminal cases against the former deputy chairman of the regional government and her son.
According to investigators, from 2022 to 2025, the suspect accepted bribes from an individual entrepreneur who sought to influence the head of a state-funded institution. The money was transferred to the deputy prime minister through an intermediary, her son.
In exchange for the bribes, the accused, using her official position, ordered the purchase of goods for the institution's needs from a single supplier, namely, the entrepreneur in question. The official received a total of over 2 million rubles, the regional Investigative Committee reported today on its Telegram channel.
The official is suspected of accepting a bribe on an especially large scale, , and her son is suspected of acting as an intermediary in bribery on an especially large scale. .
Tuganova is hiding from investigators in another country and is on the international wanted list. A criminal case for abuse of office had previously been opened against her, but the two cases have now been combined into a single proceeding. Prior to this, her son emigrated to Canada and requested political asylum, after which Tuganova was forced to resign, according to the publication "Osnova."
Larisa Tuganova served as the republic's Minister of Labor and Social Development from 2005 to 2015.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that in March, a court remanded in custody for two months former North Ossetian Construction Minister Konstantin Morgoev, who is suspected of abuse of office.