MOSCOW (Reuters) – A third man has been detained in a bribery investigation centring on Deputy Russian Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, the Moscow court service said on Thursday.
It said Alexander Fomin, the co-founder of a construction company called Olimpsitistroy, was suspected of paying bribes to Ivanov, who was detained on Tuesday, and Sergei Borodin, a close associate of Ivanov who is also in custody.
The scandal is the biggest in years to hit the defence ministry, and is seen as a severe blow to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The court service said Fomin was suspected of “providing services” to Ivanov, Borodin and others in the form of goods, work and services relating to property renovation.
“Also, Fomin and other persons, acting as an organised group, contributed to Ivanov’s receipt of a particularly large bribe in the form of the illegal provision of property-related services to him,” it said.
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Ros Russell)
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