MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Former Mira General Director Dinara Bilyalova, a suspect in the high-profile criminal case on military property embezzlement, has followed the example of former head of the Legal Assistance Center Expert Yekaterina Smetanova and concluded a pre-trial cooperation agreement, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Tuesday.
"Having spent several months in a detention facility, both estate agents [Bilyalova and Smetanova] pleaded guilty and wished to conclude a cooperation agreement with the military prosecutor's office," the newspaper reported.
The suspects' requests have been granted - Smetanova was released in February and Bilyalova in late September 2013, the daily reported.
According to Kommersant, the criminal cases of Bilyalova and Smetanova have been separated.
The estate agents are currently studying the materials gathered by the Russian Investigative Committee and will go to court for special hearings in late 2013. The penalty for both women, who confessed and agreed to cooperate, will be less severe, the newspaper reported.
The testimony of the two women has helped the Russian Investigative Committee to fully understand the extent of the crimes committed by the group of embezzlers and to bring final charges against the suspected group leader, former Defense Ministry's property relations department head Yevgenia Vasilyeva, Kommersant reported.
It has been reported that Bilyalova is accused under the Russian Criminal Code Article 159 Part 4, fraud. According to the information of Kommersant, Bilyalova, same as her predecessor Smetanova, took approximately 5% of the illegal profits, which, taking into account the scale of the sale of military property, was quite considerable.
It emerged in October 2012 that cases of large-scale embezzlement at Oboronservice, which is controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry, were being investigated. The criminal case includes seven instances of embezzlement, which have been merged into a single case. It concerns 14 properties. The total damage done to the state is estimated at 6.7 billion rubles.