MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - A former deputy head of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has been arrested on suspicion of abuses during the implementation of government contracts, which caused losses in excess of two billion rubles, Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said.
"The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against FSIN former deputy director Valery Maximenko. He has been detained and charged with abuse of office (part three 3, Article 285 of the Russian Criminal Code)," Petrenko told journalists on Thursday.
According to the inquiry, in 2018, Maximenko "illegally arranged for the signing of state contracts to build and repair facilities under the federal target program titled 'The development of the penitentiary system (2018-2026)' between FSIN area branches and FSIN's North Caucasus Federal District Construction Authority."
"The building contractor knowingly lacked the production and specialist resources to implement them [the contracts]," Petrenko said.
As a result of Maximenko's actions, "the 2018-2019 federal target program underperformed to the tune of more than 2.1 billion rubles, 14 penitentiary facilities were never commissioned, and the unitary enterprise sustained losses of over 189 million rubles in the form of overhead construction costs and fines for the late execution of state contracts," she said.