80 million dollars stolen during spaceport construction in Russia

At least 5.4 billion rubles (about $80 million) has been stolen from the funds allocated by the Russian government to the construction of the “Vostochny” cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

Police have launched an investigation into possible money laundering. $5.4 million are officially reported as missing in the case files. Earlier, however, Russia’s Attorney General had said 7.5 billion rubles ($126 million) had gone missing at some point in the construction project.

A source close to the investigation told the news agency Interfax that both the management of the contractor “Dalspetsstroi” and their subordinate employees are suspected of stealing money. The source said that one of the co-defendants in the case is the former head accountant of one of the company’s affiliate branches.

“The investigation is ongoing. Investigators are active on the territories of more than 20 federal [regions] throughout the country,” a source close to the case told Interfax.

Interfax

• The new cosmodrome is located in the Amur region in Russia’s Far East. It is scheduled for completion in late November this year. The first launch is set to take place in December. The construction work is lagging several months behind.
• Several criminal cases have been launched against companies and individuals involved in the construction. Former head of the contractor “Dalspetsstroi” Yuri Khrizman is charged with stealing 1.8 billion rubles ($26.6 million) from state funds allocated for the project. His son is a co-defendant in the case, as well as a Khabarovsk region lawmaker named Viktor Chudov. Other criminal cases have been launched in connection with withholding construction workers’ salaries.
• For more on corruption in Russia's space industry, see: *Russia’s space agency misallocated nearly $2 billion, audit shows*