MOSCOW, Sept 16 (Askume) – Two more senior defence officials have admitted to taking bribes, investigators said on Monday, the latest in a series of corruption scandals that have rocked the Russian military.
The Investigative Committee, the law enforcement agency responsible for serious crime, said the pair admitted to receiving bribes worth more than 11 million rubles ($120,000) over three years.
Ivan Populovsky and Grigory Zorin were said to have accepted money from two Russian companies that provide electrical products and cables to the Defense Ministry.
More than a dozen people, including senior military and defence officials, have been arrested since April in the biggest wave of scandals to hit the defence sector in years.
Across the board, investigators are probing alleged corruption related to property services, military supplies and the construction of a huge military theme park near Moscow.
In May, shortly after the first arrests, President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dismissed long-serving Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and replaced him with economist Andrei Belousov, in a move widely seen as an effort to ensure tighter management of Russia’s huge defense budget and end waste.
All of those interviewed had served under Shoigu, who headed the Defence Ministry from 2012 until May this year and is now secretary of Putin’s Security Council.
