MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - The arrested former deputy defense minister, Army Reserve Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov, charged with massive fraud, will remain in custody three more months, an Interfax correspondent reported from the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Tuesday.
"To extend the custody period for the accused Bulgakov until December 25, 2024," Judge Yelena Lenskaya said.
The same ruling was issued to his co-defendants, German Yakovlev, general director of Neva-Balt SPb, and Gennady Seleznyov, a former university classmate of the general's.
The hearing was closed to the public. This was necessary to preserve the secrecy of the investigation and to protect the safety of the parties to the legal process, the investigator said.
The defense team had asked the judge to reject the investigator's motion and insisted on the possibility of choosing a more lenient restraining measure for the defendants.
The lawyers are expected to appeal the ruling.
Bulgakov and his co-defendants stand accused of massive fraud.
As reported earlier, Bulgakov was arrested in a corruption case related to embezzlement in the fulfillment of contracts for energy checks of interior and exterior lighting systems of the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg.
The sum at issue is 49 million rubles, investigators said.
The defendants pleaded not guilty.
Bulgakov served as a deputy defense minister from 2008 to September 2022. He was awarded the Hero of Russia title in 2016.