After staging a search of Shirshov's home apartment and office at work, the police reportedly found 600 million rubles.
Shirshov will be held for up to 30 days in a Moscow prison while the investigation goes forward, in accordance with a presidential decree ordering a crackdown on organized crime, Soldatov told the agency.
The embezzlement first came to light a year ago when the police arrested Shirshov's partner, Sergei Petrenko, who was the head of the construction and management department at the ministry, and a worker from the Sigma commercial bank on similar charges.
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