MOSCOW, September 21 (RAPSI) – Moscow prosecutor Sergei Ilyukhin, who is responsible for legal compliance at sensitive facilities, has forwarded evidence of new incidents of fraud at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center to Moscow prosecution authorities, Izvestia newspaper reported on Monday.

Izvestia writes that the alleged fraud took place at the center’s metal-working plant in Moscow in 2013–2014.

In late 2013, the former director of the plant, Vladimir Petrik ordered the signing of a contract under which company TFK Tuglim was to send 15 metal-working experts to the plant. Prosecutors found that Tuglim failed to send the experts and that the contract was instead fulfilled by the plant’s interns, who were paid about 130,000 rubles ($2,000). However, the plant also paid 854,000 rubles (over $13,000) to Tuglim under the contract. The documents were signed by the Fili plant’s operations supervisor, Sergei Golubev.

The Khrunichev spacecraft developer has admitted that the Defense Ministry was suing them over the July 2, 2013 crash of a Proton M booster that was carrying two GLONASS-M satellites when it went off course and crashed on the Baikonur launch center grounds a minute into the flight. The Investigative Committee attributed the incident to the substandard installation of the rocket’s acceleration sensors.

A Defense Ministry lawsuit demanded reimbursement for damages equal to the cost of the booster rocket, the payload fairing and other equipment lost in the crash. The defendant is fighting the claim.

In an earlier Proton M accident, which led to the loss of a Mexican satellite on May 16, a faulty third-stage engine turbo pump unit was cited as a possible reason for the crash.

The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center manufactures the Proton and Angara booster rockets.