MOSCOW, April 27 (RAPSI) – A criminal investigation has been opened into the alleged real estate scam linked to the Zhukovsky-based Central Aerohydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI), one of the world’s premier research centers, the Interior Ministry reported on Monday.

Three suspects, including an official of the property fund Rosimushchestvo, which manages state-owned assets, have been detained, their flats and offices searched.

The suspects stand accused of fraudulently acquiring a land plot, a three-story building with an air-raid shelter in the central Moscow once owned by the institute, according to the police.

Total potential losses from the alleged fraud are estimated at more than 600 million rubles ($12 million).