By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: A Russian official has been held for his suspected involvement in the embezzlement of state property worth over 10 billion rubles (about $300 million).
Police detained a former director of the Federal Property Management Agency for the Moscow region, the interior ministry said.
The case involves the illegal seizure and sell-off of over 100 state-owned real estate properties.
Other suspects in the case include bank officials, arbitration court representatives, state property managers, and commercial company representatives.
The criminals used a sophisticated multi-stage scheme to take control of a state firm, bring in its own managers, bankrupt the company, take it over and then sell it, the ministry said.