Russian Ex-Defense Ministry Official Arrested on Bribery Charges

A former Russian military official responsible for overseeing clothing supplies was arrested on bribery charges, law enforcement authorities announced Tuesday.
Vladimir Demchik, who holds the rank of colonel in Russia’s reserve forces, oversaw the defense ministry’s clothing department until April 2018.
Investigators accuse Demchik of accepting 4 million rubles ($46,700) in bribes from the CEO of an unnamed clothing company seeking “to secure his patronage” in the spring of 2017.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, the clothing company won 26 government contracts to supply the military between 2017 and 2018. The total value of those contracts was said to be 574 million rubles ($6.7 million).
Demchik was responsible for ensuring supplies of new ceremonial uniforms and footwear for the Russian military between 2015 and 2017, the state-run news agency TASS reported, citing an anonymous law enforcement source.
A military court in Moscow ruled to place Demchik, who now works as deputy CEO of the Textile Trade Company, in pre-trial detention. He faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of bribery.
The Investigative Committee said it would seek the arrest of the clothing company CEO who allegedly bribed Demchik.
Several former and current Russian Defense Ministry officials have been arrested on corruption charges since April in an apparent military purge.
On Monday, the head of the Russian military’s theme park and a senior defense ministry official were arrested for allegedly embezzling public funds.
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