MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Yekaterina Smetanova, a key suspect in the Oboronservis fraud case, protests her innocence but is giving interrogators detailed evidence, some of which has implicated senior Russian Defense Ministry officials, sources familiar with the case said on Thursday.
"She believes there was nothing criminal about her valuations of Defense Ministry real estate or her looking for customers. It was all business, she claims, - there's something that's below and something that's above the market price. And the main point, in her opinion, is that she was carrying out instructions from [Defense Ministry] officials, and her role was purely technical," one of the sources told Interfax.
Smetanova "is keeping nothing secret from the investigators, she is giving valuable evidence about high-ranking persons, and expects some leniency in return," the source said, adding that, for one thing, she is hoping to be released from custody.
"The two parties still haven't been able to strike a plea bargain," the source said. However, "this is most likely a matter of time."
Earlier, a source said "there are complex negotiations underway" with Smetanova "on the terms for a plea bargain," and that "it is known for a fact that she wants to cooperate with the investigators and help them as much as possible."
Some of Smetanova's evidence implicated Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a former head of the Defense Ministry's Property Department, the source told Interfax. "The entire case and the plea bargain itself, as well as the outlook for Smetanova herself, depend on this evidence," he said.
"This chain of evidence may ultimately lead up to the former head of the [Defense Ministry]," the source said in reference to Anatoly Serdyukov, fired by President Vladimir Putin last week.
Suspected fraudulent deals with state property carried out by Oboronservis, a company controlled by the Defense Ministry, are believed to have deprived the state of more than 3 billion rubles.
Smetanova was charged on November 8.