The estimated cost of fraud from the illegal sale of Russian Defense
Ministry property in the Oboronservis case has risen to over 13
billion rubles ($433 mln), Investigative Committee head Alexander
Bastrykin said on Thursday, RIA-Novosti reports.
“The damage was originally assessed at 3 billion rubles and now it is
already 13 billion, while the area affected by [the fraud] is
broadening and new instances [of fraud] and more suspects are
emerging,” RIA-Novosti quotes Bastrykin as saying to reporters in
Moscow.
Embezzlement has become deeply rooted at the Defense Ministry due to
inefficient control over spending on the part of the ministry’s
financial bodies, he said.
While Serdyukov is still considered a witness in the case, his status
may change to that of “suspect” if enough evidence indicates he was
involved in the fraud, Bastrykin said.
“We must come to court with solid and convincing evidence, especially
when it concerns the [former] defense minister and his aides,”
Bastrykin added.
