MOSCOW, March 25 (RAPSI) – Five people stand accused of embezzling 250 million rubles (over $4 million) in federal funds earmarked for the GlONASS satellite navigation system as the investigation is completed, Izvestia newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The charges have been brought against George Kovkov, deputy general director of the Central Research Institute of Machine Building, or TsNIImash; Alexander Chernov, chief of the company's Capital Projects Department; Alexander Belov, general director of one of the Federal Special Construction Agency's departments; Dmitry Belitsky, owner of the company Verny Consulting; and Roman Martynenko, general director of SpetsMonolit OOO.

Martynenko and Belitsky have also been charged with money laundering.

None of the men pleaded guilty. They gave prosecutors a written undertaking not to leave the city.

The case will be forwarded to court after they study case materials.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), which was officially launched in 1993, is a Russian counterpart to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). It provides data for real-time positioning and speed of surface, sea and air objects to within an accuracy of one meter.

The GLONASS program was initiated in the 1970s but underwent a radical revamp in 2001. The 24 satellites comprising the system were put into orbit by 2010, though only after several costly malfunctions and launch failures by carrier rockets. The program has cost 140 billion rubles ($2.4 billion) to date, and its budget for 2012-2020 stands at a further 326 billion rubles ($5.5 billion).

Construction of the GLONASS control center began in June 2010 on the site used by TsNIImash in Korolyov, a town outside Moscow. The center was supposed to hold equipment for collecting and processing the GLONASS data.

The construction was financed by a federal program, with 1.05 billion rubles (over $18 billion) allocated for the project.

It became clear by the end of 2010 that the construction cost estimates had been overstated, according to Izvestia. An expert appraisal also revealed that the contractor had rigged the costs. As the government did not allocate any additional funds, the construction was suspended in December 2011 when the Federal GLONASS Program for 2002-2011 ended. The construction of the building has not been completed.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) started looking into the unfinished building in 2013. In January, the service asked TsNIImash to provide the construction documents for an inspection, which ended in April. The results were then forwarded to the Investigative Committee and a criminal case opened.