Russian court has jailed a former official for 11 years over the sale of four fighter jets for just $5 each
Picture used for illustrative purposes only. (GETTY IMAGES)
The military corruption scandal, that cost the government about $55 million, underscored endemic fraud in Russia's armed forces.
Andrei Silyakov, a former employee of the state Federal Reserve Agency, illegally included the warplanes on a list of state assets to be sold, the Nizhny Novgorod regional court said in a statement on its website.
The four MIG-31 supersonic long-range fighter jets, known as Foxhounds, were sold for 153 roubles ($5) each from state-owned Sokol aviation plant in Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometres east of Moscow.
Although the jets were sold stripped of engines and weapons, each was in fact worth about $4 million. The planes were appraised as scrap metal and sold to a shell company that had no authority to trade weapons or military hardware, the statement said.
Silyakov was also accused of embezzling 30,000 tons of oil and handed an 11-year jail sentence for fraud, costing the Russian state a total of almost $69 million, the court said.
A combination of lack of funding, negligence and corruption have damaged attempts to supplement and maintain the huge arms stockpiles Russia inherited at the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Corruption in the armed forces cost Russia 6.5 billion roubles ($222.8 million) worth of state funds in 2010, Russia's chief military prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said.
Sokol is part of the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation.
Andrei Silyakov, a former employee of the state Federal Reserve Agency, illegally included the warplanes on a list of state assets to be sold, the Nizhny Novgorod regional court said in a statement on its website.
The four MIG-31 supersonic long-range fighter jets, known as Foxhounds, were sold for 153 roubles ($5) each from state-owned Sokol aviation plant in Nizhny Novgorod, 400 kilometres east of Moscow.
Although the jets were sold stripped of engines and weapons, each was in fact worth about $4 million. The planes were appraised as scrap metal and sold to a shell company that had no authority to trade weapons or military hardware, the statement said.
Silyakov was also accused of embezzling 30,000 tons of oil and handed an 11-year jail sentence for fraud, costing the Russian state a total of almost $69 million, the court said.
A combination of lack of funding, negligence and corruption have damaged attempts to supplement and maintain the huge arms stockpiles Russia inherited at the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Corruption in the armed forces cost Russia 6.5 billion roubles ($222.8 million) worth of state funds in 2010, Russia's chief military prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said.
Sokol is part of the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation.
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