INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian law enforcement authorities launched a criminal investigation into an alleged $12 million fraud scheme tied to border defense
construction in the Belgorod region, the Kommersant business newspaper reported Friday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the
case.Former Belgorod region Deputy Governor Rustem Zainullin, four businessmen and two construction firms have been named as defendants in
the case, according to the sources.Zainullin and three businessmen were said to have been placed in custody in Moscow on large-scale fraud
charges, while one suspect remains at large
Zainullin and Soshnikov awarded 26 contracts between 2022 and 2024 worth more than 1.1 billion rubles ($14.6 million) to the two firms
The contracts are alleged to have involved kickbacks, shell companies and misappropriated funds.The federal government allocated 19.5
billion rubles ($250 million) for border defense projects in the Belgorod region, including anti-tank barriers, trenches and dugouts,
have launched an investigation into alleged corruption in the construction of border fortifications.In the neighboring Kursk region,
defensive structures that were breached during a Ukrainian incursion last August reportedly cost 15 billion rubles ($192 million) and took
almost three years to complete.
