Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court has ordered the arrest of Dmitry Kolobov, the former head of the Industry Ministry’s department for industrial development and socially significant goods. According to TASS and RBC, citing sources, he is suspected of large-scale fraud.
Sources told the outlets that the investigation concerns the alleged theft of budget funds allocated for innovative projects under Russia’s import-substitution program.
One of the reported episodes, according to a TASS source, involves the production of adult diapers made from Russian cellulose. The alleged damage in that episode is said to exceed 50 million rubles.
The same source said additional episodes could be added to the case later. If that happens, the total alleged losses could rise to one billion rubles.
Kolobov asked the court to impose a softer pretrial measure, either house arrest or a ban on certain activities. The court instead ordered that he be held in custody.
TASS also reported that Kolobov fainted while the judge was reading out the arrest ruling. The Industry and Trade Ministry said he had left the ministry in May 2023.