A third defendant has appeared in the case of Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov

Moscow. April 24. INTERFAX.RU – A third defendant is involved in the criminal case against the arrested Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who is charged with giving a bribe, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax.

“The third defendant is charged with giving a bribe (Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The question of the preventive measure against him has not been resolved,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

Punishment under this article implies both a fine of up to 90 times the amount of the bribe, and imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years. At the same time, according to the law, “a person who gave a bribe is exempt from criminal liability if he actively contributed to the detection or investigation of a crime,” as well as if, after the commission of a crime, the bribe-giver voluntarily reported the incident.

The Investigative Committee of Russia reported Ivanov’s arrest on April 23.

On Wednesday, the Basmanny Court of Moscow, at the request of the investigation, placed Ivanov and another defendant in the case, businessman Sergei Borodin, under arrest until June 23.

Ivanov and Borodin, according to the court, were charged with receiving a particularly large bribe (Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The maximum term of imprisonment is 15 years, and a fine of up to seventy times the amount of the bribe is also provided.

At the same time, as Ivanov’s defense explained, the case concerns the receipt of other benefits not related to the receipt of funds.

As clarified in court, the investigation believes that Ivanov entered into a criminal conspiracy with Borodin, with whom he was on friendly terms, and with third parties, “he teamed up with them in advance to commit an organized group of a crime – receiving a bribe on an especially large scale in the form of providing services of a property nature when carrying out contract and subcontract work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense.”

Ivanov denies any wrongdoing.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in May 2016, and is responsible for organizing property management, cantonment of troops, housing and medical support for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Before this, Ivanov headed JSC Oboronstroy for several years.