Investigators believe he was involved in the theft in 2023 of more than 1,700 tons of rolled metal products purchased by the civil-military administration of the Zaporozhye region to equip defensive structures on the combat contact line. According to investigators, in total items worth more than 114.5 million rubles were stolen; General Popov received 1.3 million rubles for his “services” in the business.
The general does not admit guilt. Businessman Sergei Moiseev, involved in the same case, on the contrary, confessed and regretted everything. The third person involved, Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov (he, according to investigators, organized the criminal group) did not live to see the trial. He died in a special military operations zone in the summer of 2023. And that’s why the case against him was dropped.
“Knowing Popov’s passion for betting on the results of sporting events and bribing his wife with a car worth about 4 million rubles, as well as Moiseev’s persuasion, this criminal plan was developed,” the prosecutor read in the accusation.
The prosecutor added that the defendants in the fraud case committed multimillion-dollar robberies in Melitopol, Berdyansk, Tula, Balashikha, Dmitrov, Moscow and other Russian cities.
The Tambov military court, at the request of a representative of the state prosecutor’s office, closed the proceedings for several days to the media and listeners, as case materials containing state secrets would be made public.
General Popov was arrested on May 17 of this year. On July 15, he was transferred to house arrest.
