Moscow: The Russian Investigative Committee has announced the arrest of former Deputy Minister of Defense, Army General Pavel Popov, on charges of fraud related to the construction and maintenance of the Patriot Park in the Moscow Region. The announcement was made by Svetlana Petrenko, a representative of the Investigative Committee.
General Popov, who served as Deputy Minister from 2021 to 2024, is accused of orchestrating fraudulent schemes involving the park’s resources for personal enrichment. The investigation alleges that Popov, in collusion with Patriot Park’s director Vyacheslav Akhmedov and Vladimir Shesterov, deputy head of the Ministry of Defense’s Main Directorate for Innovative Development, embezzled funds. They are accused of using park resources to perform construction and repair work on Popov’s private properties.
“Popov enriched himself at the expense of this institution, acting together with Akhmedov and Shesterov, who were previously brought to criminal responsibility,” Petrenko stated.
Further investigations revealed that Popov coerced commercial partners of Patriot Park into performing construction work on his private properties without compensation. He is also accused of using park resources to maintain these properties after their development.
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Popov’s assets, including several real estate properties in Moscow, the Moscow Region, and Krasnodar Krai, valued at over 500 million rubles, are under scrutiny. Authorities are currently examining the legality of these properties’ acquisition.
General Popov was dismissed from his position as Deputy Minister of Defense on June 17, 2024. His role included overseeing the Main Directorate for Information Development and the Department of Information Systems within the Ministry of Defense.
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This arrest follows the earlier detention of Vyacheslav Akhmedov and Major General Vladimir Shesterov, who face charges of embezzling funds allocated for the Patriot Park and its congress and exhibition center in Kubinka. The investigation into these activities has expanded, with searches conducted at the Patriot Park site in July.
The scandal surrounding Patriot Park construction has also led to the arrest of Timur Ivanov, a former Deputy Minister of Defense, on charges of receiving a large-scale bribe.
