The Main Directorate of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia for the Moscow Region has completed investigative actions in a criminal case on the theft of more than 1 billion rubles in supplies for the scientific and energy module (NEM) of the International Space Station (ISS). This was announced on Wednesday, May 26, according to Kommersant.
It is specified that the accused in the case is also the former general director of the rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) "Energy" Vladimir Solntsev. The stolen funds were laundered in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, where the module components were purchased, the newspaper writes.
The case was initiated on October 17, 2019, initially the investigation was conducted against unidentified persons. The suspects were named only in the summer of 2020, most of them were detained and arrested.
According to the materials of the IC, at the end of 2012, the Federal Space Agency and JSC RSC Energia signed a state contract for the "creation of a scientific and energy module", the transaction amount was 15.15 billion rubles. At the same time, Vladimir Solntsev, his deputy Stepan Prokhorov, adviser Mikhail Ignatkin and other defendants fraudulently stole budget funds in the amount of more than 1.72 billion rubles.
In order to carry out the criminal scheme, Energia and JSC TsNII Tsiklon signed a contract in March 2017, and as a result, 1.32 billion rubles were placed in the company's settlement accounts, which were intended to pay for the supply of products for the module. According to the investigation, the contract price was inflated three times: the market value of the components did not reach 490 million rubles.
The defendants in the case do not admit their guilt, in the near future they will get acquainted with the case materials.
In September 2020, the investigative authorities conducted a check on the fact of fraud in the execution of a closed state contract between Roscosmos and the NGO Technomash. It was assumed that the company would produce a vacuum chamber where electron-beam welding of parts for rocket and space technology was to be carried out, but after the payment of the advance payment, the work was not completed.
