Court extends arrest of ex-deputy defense minister Pavel Popov in embezzlement case

Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov, who is accused of embezzlement of funds allocated for the Patriot Park, has had his arrest extended. This was reported to "Izvestia" on December 17 in the press service of the 235th garrison military court.

On November 13, the court left Popov in custody without satisfying his appeal.

Popov was detained on August 29, 2024 on suspicion of fraud on a particularly large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). On the same day, the military court arrested him. According to the version of the investigation, in 2021-2024, being responsible for the development of the park "Patriot", Popov stole the funds allocated for this purpose. Also in the Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation reported that the former Deputy Minister of Defense was involved in the forced involvement of the heads of commercial organizations, contracted with the park, to work without paying for them.

The investigation found that he acted in cooperation with the park director Vyacheslav Akhmedov and deputy head of the main department of innovation development of the Defense Ministry Vladimir Shesterov, whose detention became known on August 5. A criminal case was opened against them. Akhmedov was arrested, and Shesterov was sent under house arrest until September 21, after which the term was extended for three months - until December 21.