MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee has confirmed that a criminal case has been opened against Valery Puzikov, a brother-in-law of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
Asked by Interfax on Wednesday to comment on reports suggesting that an investigation has been opened against the husband of Serdyukov's sister, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said, "The Investigative Committee's main military investigations department has opened a criminal case in relation to former Defense Ministry's St. Petersburg Engineering-Technical Center Deputy General Director Valery Puzikov."
The man is suspected of committing massive fraud and misappropriation as a member of a group acting by previous concert, Markin said.
The investigation has found that the company St. Petersburg Engineering-Technical Center had carried out a government contract to provide transport vehicles to the Defense Ministry commanding staff, he said.
"According to the documents, the Defense Ministry leased a Toyota Land Cruiser 78, a Mercedes-Benz GL 320 4 Matic, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, a Hummer and a BMW 760LI from the company, which Puzikov himself had on loan from affiliated commercial organizations," he said.
Despite the fact that the Defense Ministry virtually did not use the said vehicles, "the company transferred over 8 million rubles to commercial organizations from 2010 to 2013," Markin said.
"In addition, the people appointed to the positions of manager, administrative assistant, and nurse actually did not perform their duties. Knowing this, the management signed orders on paying them salaries and bonuses and compensating for their travel expenses," he said.
The damage caused to the company by these actions amounted to over 4 million rubles, he said.