MOSCOW, November 28 (Itar-Tass) — The total damage caused by crimes committed by the military, including the Oboronservis case, reaches 6.7 billion roubles, head of the Main Military Investigation Department /GVSU/ of the Investigative Committee, Col-Gen Alexander Sorochkin said on Wednesday. The damage caused within the Oboronservis case alone exceeds 4 billion roubles.
Compared with 2011, the sum of damage ascertained by the investigators has increased by 60 percent. Previously, it was estimated at 1.3 billion roubles. The sum has skyrocketed because of the latest high-profile criminal cases, the official said.
"Of course, the scope of the crimes is conspicuous, to put it mildly," Sorochkin acknowledged in comments of the two criminal cases over property fraud at the Oboronservis and Slavyanka joint stock companies.
"The Oboronservis case has pooled seven criminal cases over 14 real estate facilities that belong to the so-called non-core assets and were sold ineffectively, by which, as we believe, crimes were committed," he went on to say.
The price of property seized during the searches in the Oboronservis and Slavyanka cases makes up at least one billion roubles. "The investigators seized a considerable sum: more than 700,000 million roubles in Russian roubles and foreign currency, as well as valuables whose price is now being estimated. The sum of the confiscated items may amount to over one billion roubles.
In each of the criminal cases under investigation, three persons have been arrested. Andrei Lugansky, director of the Security and Communications private company, was arrested within the Slavyanka case on Monday. On Tuesday, a court sanctioned his arrest.
Earlier, the post of director of Security and Communications was occupied by Yelkin, another suspect in the case.
Sorochkin declined to provide further details. "It's difficult to comment on this criminal case, because it is still at the initial stage; therefore I'll refrain from /detailed/ comments for understandable reasons," he said.
The GVSU opened five criminal cases over fraud in selling real estate, land plots and share belonging to Oboronservis, an affiliate of the Defense Ministry. Criminal proceedings were instituted over fraud and abuse of authority and later pooled into one case.
The investigators said Defense Ministry officials had selected the most liquid and prestigious assets belonging to the Ministry, including Moscow-based property. As a rule, tremendous budget funds were injected into the property before it was sold at understated prices to commercial bodies affiliated with Oboronservis, the SK reported earlier.
Also, many facilities were purchased with the money stolen from Oboronservis.
Former head of the "Expert" legal support center Yekaterina Smetanova and her husband Maxim Zakutailo were arrested on charges of fraud. Former head of the Defense Ministry's property department Yevgenia Vasilyeva is now under house arrest.
As for the Slavyanka case, the SK arrested director general of the company Alexander Yelkin and chief accountant Yulia Rotanova. Earlier reports said the Slavyanka case damage was estimated at around 53 million roubles.