A former deputy minister of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry was charged over the alleged theft of an apartment, federal investigators said Thursday.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said Pavel Baryshev used fraudulent documents between 2017 and 2019 to acquire a three-bedroom apartment in the Moscow area valued at 20 million rubles ($223,700).
Law enforcement authorities charged the former deputy minister with “large-scale fraud,” a crime that carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years, and a court seized the apartment he was accused of stealing.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin dismissed Baryshev in June from his latest role as deputy minister for natural resources and the environment, citing his “retirement.” He served as deputy minister of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry from 2017 to 2021.
It was not immediately clear whether Baryshev was taken into police custody.
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