MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - A criminal case has been started against Expert Legal Support Center director Yekaterina Smetanova based on charges of commercial bribery, a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman told Interfax.
"Information appeared in the media yesterday that Smetanova will be prosecuted on three counts of commercial bribery (Article 204 of the Russian Penal Code). The press center of the Russian Interior Ministry confirms these reports," he said.
Smetanova has been accused of involvement in corruption schemes, which were devised to sell real estate owned by the Russian Defense Ministry at discounted prices, the spokesman said.
Police have established that Smetanova regularly received illegal rewards in exchange for her services.
"Police also documented the handover of two tourist trip tickets to the Czech Republic and Israel valued at some 500,000 rubles, two tablet computers and six million rubles to Smetanova, who was detained by detectives of the Russian Interior Ministry's Economic Security and Counter-Corruption Department as she received the money," the spokesman said.
Smetanova was earlier remanded into custody by Moscow's Khamovnichesky District Court, he said.
Five criminal cases were opened in late October 2012 on charges of state property embezzlement at Oboronservice, an entity controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry, that entailed more than 3 billion rubles in damage. Two more episodes were added later, and the damage grew to 6.7 billion rubles.
The Russian Investigative Committee is probing two criminal cases of abuse at Defense Ministry structures, Oboronservice and Slavyanka.
Two suspects were arrested: Expert legal support center head Yekaterina Smetanova and her common-law husband Maxim Zakutailo, former general director of the district warehouse of the Air Force/Air Defense Moscow regional district. Smetanova was charged with three criminal episodes and Zakutailo with two. Smetanova made a confession and got a plea deal.