A Tajik-born Russian citizen, Tahmina Samadova, has filed a lawsuit against the administration of the Moscow suburb of Mytishchi, demanding the return of a housing certificate worth 24 million Russian rubles (RR).

Radio Azattyk reports that Samadova, a mother of seven, claims the Mytishchi city administration wrongfully revoked her family’s housing subsidy certificate.  The lawsuit names the Mytishchi city administration as the defendant and the Moscow Region Ministry of Housing Policy as a third party. The suit was filed on April 28.

The first court hearing took place on May 29, but details of the discussion have not been disclosed.  The next hearing is scheduled for July 7.

Samadova and her husband Ramazon Rahimov have lived in Russia for 14 years and currently raise seven children.

In January, the Mytishchi administration announced that the large family, residing in a one-room apartment, was granted a housing subsidy certificate.

However, the announcement triggered a wave of negative backlash on Russian social media and blogs.  Amid the public outcry, the family was stripped of the certificate.

Following the controversy, the Russian Investigative Committee launched a probe into the Mytishchi administration’s handling of the subsidy. As a result, the city’s deputy mayor was detained on charges of negligence related to issuing the housing certificate.

Investigators said the official led the commission that declared the family low-income and approved the certificate without verifying the accuracy of the submitted documents.

Tahmina Samadova herself came under scrutiny and was briefly detained on suspicion of fraud — allegedly for submitting false information about her husband’s income and inaccurate housing records.  She was later released pending further investigation.