Smetanova to stay in custody until February 10
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Moscow's Khamovnichesky Court granted the prosecution's request on Thursday by ordering a defendant in the Oboronservice fraud case, former head of the expert legal assistance firm Yekaterina Smetanova, to stay in custody until February 10, an Interfax correspondent reports.
The prosecutor insisted that Smetanova may attempt to escape and influence the investigation. He reminded the court that on one occasion the defendant had traveled to Paris and back aboard a military plane and that she had connections in France and also in Spain.
In late October, the Investigative Committee opened five criminal cases on charges of large-scale fraud worth more than 3 billion rubles involving OAO Oboronservice, a company controlled by the Defense Ministry.
Two suspects were arrested - Smetanova and her common law husband M. Zakutaylo, who previously served as head of the central warehouse for the Moscow Air Force District.
Smetanova and Zakutaylo were charged with three and two counts of crime, respectively.
Another fraud suspect, former head of the Defense Ministry's property department Yekaterina Vasilyeva, was put under house arrest for two months on November 23.
