Former deputy protection minister Timur Ivanov gave the impression in court docket Monday for the beginning of a high-profile embezzlement trial that would lead to him spending years in the back of bars.
Ivanov, 49, who oversaw Russian army development tasks, used to be arrested in April 2024 as a part of a broader Kremlin crackdown on army officers suspected of corruption.
Prosecutors accuse him of embezzling 3.2 billion rubles ($38.3 million) from Moscow-based financial institution Intercommerz, which went beneath in 2016, and over 200 million rubles throughout the procurement of 2 ferries for Crimea.
Dubbed the “glamorous basic” by means of Russian media, Ivanov is essentially the most senior Russian army determine arrested because the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Government have seized more than one luxurious vehicles and homes related to him throughout the investigation.
Ivanov is being attempted along Anton Filatov, former director of the state protection company Oboronlogistika, a subsidiary of the protection ministry. Each males pleaded now not accountable to fees of embezzlement and cash laundering, which lift a most sentence of 15 years.
Ivanov’s attorney, Murad Musayev, brushed aside the fees as “totally groundless,” in line with the RIA Novosti information company.
Since closing yr, Russian legislation enforcement government have charged over a dozen army officers and protection sector employees, many accused of diverting budget intended for key tasks.
Courtroom paperwork display Ivanov’s circle of relatives belongings, now frozen, come with 23 luxurious and antique vehicles. Legislation enforcement additionally seized a 2,500-square-meter mansion, a 420-square-metre bathhouse and a 20-acre plot of land, in line with RIA Novosti.
Ivanov, who served as deputy protection minister since 2016, used to be formally brushed aside in June 2024, two months after his arrest. He’s extensively believed to have connections to Sergei Shoigu, the previous protection minister brushed aside by means of Putin closing yr.
In 2022, Ivanov used to be the topic of an investigation by means of the Anti-Corruption Basis, based by means of the overdue opposition determine Alexei Navalny. The investigation alleged Ivanov profited from development tasks in Mariupol, a Ukrainian town captured by means of Russian forces after a months-long siege.
