The head of the village of Elbrus has been arrested in a case of fraud involving a land plot.

The head of the Elbrus rural settlement, Islam Djappuyev, has been detained, accused of transferring a land plot to a relative at a reduced price.

Investigators in Kabardino-Balkaria are investigating a criminal case against the head of the Elbrus rural settlement. He is accused of exceeding his official powers, resulting in serious consequences.

According to the investigation, the suspect, while serving as the head of the rural settlement, organized the illegal sale of a land plot that was in municipal ownership to his relative from September to November 2024, the republican Investigative Committee reported on its Telegram channel.

The investigation established that the official, using his official powers, made a series of illegal decisions regarding the transfer of a land plot of 1907 square meters. For this purpose, he changed the permitted use of the land and then leased it to his relative without competitive procedures.

According to the expert's conclusion, the market value of the land plot at the time of its transfer was over 14.8 million rubles, while the buyer paid only 328.5 thousand rubles for it, thus the amount of damage caused was 14.5 million rubles.

"The actions of the suspect were detected and stopped by the staff of the FSB department for Kabardino-Balkaria. The suspect has been placed in custody," the agency's message states.

According to information on the official website of the settlement, the position of head is held by 46-year-old Islam Djappuyev.

Recall that in March 2025, the police announced a search for the former deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, Murat Efendiyev. The investigation believes that Efendiyev may be involved in fraud involving a land plot of 6 square kilometers in the Elbrus region, with damages estimated at 31 million rubles. In June, the Supreme Court of Russia issued a sanction for the arrest of Efendiyev in absentia. In September, the case of the former head of the Elbrus settlement administration, Uzeir Kurdano, and Larisa Kadyrova, who are involved in this case, was sent to the Maykop City Court.

The criminal case against Efendiyev is related to fraud during the construction of a hotel complex in 2015 on the territory of the national park "Elbrus." The former deputy prosecutor of the republic, Azret Kadyrov, is also a suspect in the case and has been arrested in absentia on similar charges. In February 2024, Azret Kadyrov's sister, Larisa Kadyrova, was detained. She was listed as the owner of a plot in the Adyl-Su gorge, where the construction of a multi-story hotel was planned.

According to "Kommersant," the administration of the Elbrus district sold her a 6,000 square meter plot of the national park in 2015 for 450 thousand rubles, with a cadastral value of 8.4 million rubles.

In December 2025, a court in Maykop found the former head of the village of Elbrus, Uzeir Kurdano, and local resident Larisa Kadyrova guilty of fraud involving a land plot in the national park "Elbrus" and sentenced them to real prison terms.

The national park "Elbrus" was established in Kabardino-Balkaria in 1986 to preserve the natural complex and create conditions for organized recreation, tourism, and mountaineering. The territory of the national park runs along the high-altitude part of the Baksan gorge and is formed by medium and high mountain ranges of the Greater Caucasus.

Elbrus is a winter resort popular among skiing, freeriding, snowboarding, and other extreme sports enthusiasts. The winter resort season in Elbrus lasts from late December to late March, according to a report by the "Caucasian Knot" about the resort. The "Caucasian Knot" has also prepared a report titled "Elbrus - the Patriarch of the Caucasus Mountains."