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Former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has been summoned as a witness for questioning in a fraud case, the Russian Investigative Committee said Friday.
Serdyukov was called in for questioning as part of an investigation into a military property misappropriation case, committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told reporters.
The 50-year-old general has come under the spotlight since October for involvement in the corruption scandal concerning the Oboronservice company, which is subordinate to the Defense Ministry.
Serdyukov was accused of embezzlement and nepotism, and was sacked by President Vladimir Putin in November after serving as defense minister since February 2007, according to local media reports.
The decision to question Serdyukov required "serious reasons and necessary scope of procedural and investigative measures" that took investigators time, Markin said.
The committee's Main Military Investigation Department has opened eight criminal cases related to the Oboronservice company, where Defense Ministry property was sold to insiders in a string of cut-price deals.
