MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - Vladimir Grodetsky, former CEO of arms manufacturer Izhevsk Mechanical Works (Izhmash), has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a 5-billion-ruble (about $160 million) fraud scheme, the Russian Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
It did not provide any further details.
The ministry earlier confirmed to RIA Novosti that Grodetsky was detained on fraud charges.
Grodetsky was dismissed from the post of Izhmash CEO in May 2011.
Russia’s defense sector has been rocked over the past few months by a string of corruption scandals that led to the sacking in November of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
Several people employed by the Oboronservis defense property services company were arrested late last year on suspicion of fraud totaling over 13 billion rubles ($430 million) involving the illegal sale of ministry property.
The Russian Federal Defense Contracts Service said last month that about 1,500 violations and infractions were uncovered in state defense spending in 2012, involving over 16 billion rubles ($533 million).
Over 2 billion rubles was returned to state coffers and over 3.5 billion rubles’ worth of damage was averted last year, the service said.
