MOSCOW, March 7 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Shcherbinsky District Court has found ex-first deputy director of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy) Alexander Zagorulko guilty of embezzling budget funds worth over 1 billion rubles (about $15 million) allocated for construction and reconstruction of the Defense Ministry’s facilities, the press-service of the Russian Investigative Committee told RAPSI on Thursday.

The defendant was also found guilty of bribery and sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony and a 10-million-ruble (about $152,000 at the current exchange rate) fine.

Earlier, ex-deputy director of Spetsstroy Alexander Buryakov had been detained as part of this case. Buryakov was sentenced to five years in prison and a 600,000-ruble fine ($900,000) in July 2018.

Investigators have established that Buryakov has conspired with unidentified persons to conclude contracts with subcontractors on construction and reconstruction of nine facilities for the Defense Ministry of Russia. The defendants embezzled over 1 billion rubles (about $15 million), investigators said.

Zagurolko began working in Spetsstroy from 2013.  He was appointed as the first deputy for the organization’s head in August 2014. In the spring of 2016, Zagorulko resigned.