MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax) - Moscow's Basmanny District Court has arrested United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Vice President Sergei Gerasimov, who is charged with massive fraud, until December 9, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom.
"The investigator's motion is granted. Gerasimov is remanded in custody until December 9," Judge Artur Karpov read from the decision on Thursday.
The investigators had asked the court to arrest Gerasimov until early December. "Gerasimov can obstruct the investigative actions in this case. He can also hide from investigators, he is familiar with methods of conspiracy, he was a high-ranking law enforcement official. He may have connections with unidentified participants in the crime," investigators said. Prosecutors supported the motion.
The suspect denies the charges.
Earlier, in the same case, the court arrested Vitaly Romanyuk, general director of Vemina Aviaprestizh, until December 9. His lawyers insisted that the crime could only be classified as a crime in the sphere of entrepreneurship.
Gerasimov and Romanyuk are charged with stealing 174 million rubles from the state.
According to investigators, the Rossiya special flight unit signed a contract with the UAC worth 394 million rubles. Then, the state corporation signed a new contract with Vemina Aviaprestizh worth 375 million rubles. The UAC paid 315 million rubles as an advance payment, and a bank issued a bank guarantee for that money. Vemina Aviaprestizh was to install new interiors in three Yak-43 planes belonging to the Presidential Property Management Department. Investigators believe the value of the contract was overstated by 174 million rubles.