Ingush ex-minister to be tried for embezzlement

The Prosecutor’s Office of Ingushetia has completed the investigation into the case against the former minister of agriculture, Ruslan Kostoyev, who is accused of misappropriating more than ₽53,000,000 ($950,000), the press service of Russia’s Investigative Committee in Ingushetia reported on 13 April.

‘According to the investigation, the 64-year-old former minister of agriculture and food of Ingushetia, using his official powers, transferred ₽53,700,000 to the account of a leasing company in December 2013’, the statement reads.

The investigation that started last year concluded that the money was transferred illegally.

The ex-minister was charged under the article ‘Misappropriation of budget funds in a particularly large amount’ of the Russian Criminal Code and may face up to give years of imprisonment.

This is not the only criminal case recently instigated against a high-ranking Ingush official. Two months ago, the minister of construction and housing and communal services, Mustafa Buruzhev was detained under accusation of fraud on more than ₽54,000,000 ($960,000) during construction of a school in the republic.

In December 2016, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained the head of the Centre for Countering Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia, Timur Khamkhoyev. The man is suspected of involvement in a robbery. According to preliminary findings, the attackers stole a car and a mobile phone from their victim, demanding ₽800,000 ($14,300) for the return of property and non-disclosure of information about the victim’s personal life.