Arrested Russian Deputy Defense Minister Accused of Accepting $12 Mln Bribe, Lawyer Says

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov has been accused of accepting a bribe “in the form of services” valued at more than 1 billion rubles ($12.2 million), Russian media reported Wednesday.

Ivanov, 48, faces up to 15 years in prison for large-scale bribe-taking, which investigators say centers around a “criminal conspiracy” to accept funds “in the form of property services during the course of contracting and subcontracting work for the Defense Ministry.” 

Ivanov, who is viewed as a close ally of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, has denied the allegations.

His attorney Murad Musayev told the state-run TASS news agency that the services his client was accused of accepting were “the cost of work and the materials spent on it,” all valued at around 1.12 billion rubles.