More than 330 million rubles ($5.3 million) were embezzled during the construction of Moscow's Shipilovskaya metro station on the Light Green (Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya) Line, the TASS news agency reported, citing Interior Ministry spokespeople.
“The embezzlement scheme involved the general contractor signing contracts with other organizations, including those it controlled. It enabled the perpetrators to manipulate prices and deliberately raise the cost of construction works,” Yelena Alexeyeva, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman, told TASS.
The results of an investigative study showed the amount and cost of the work required were grossly overestimated, she said.
Six people have been charged with mass fraud, according to Alexeyeva, and the investigation is ongoing.
The Shipilovskaya metro station was opened in December 2011. Its construction began in the late 1990s.
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