Another defense official arrested in Russia on corruption charges

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - A Moscow court ruled on Thursday to place a senior Defense Ministry official in custody on charges of abusing his official powers in fulfilling the state defense order.

Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that Vladimir Verteletsky, the head of Defense Ministry's department for implementing the state defense order was bribed to sign official papers confirming work under a contract was done so that the contractor could receive payment.

"At the request of the Investigative Committee, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for Verteletsky," she said.

According to Petrenko, the official's actions caused the state damage of more than 70 million rubles ($775,000).

Searches and interrogations were conducted as part of the criminal case being pursued by military investigators.

Verteletsky is the fifth Defense Ministry official being arrested on corruption charges in a month. Earlier in the day, head of the Main Communications Department of the Russian Armed Forces, Vadim Shamarin, was detained for allegedly receiving a particularly large bribe.

Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu was replaced by Andrey Belousov, who specializes in economics, earlier this month.