MOSCOW -- Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov has been detained in Moscow and questioned as a suspect in a fraud investigation.
Officials said on September 8 that Tikhonov would be held in custody pending the filing of charges against him.
Igor Kozhukhovsky, deputy general director of the state-company Russian Energy Agency, was also detained in the case.
Russian media reported that agents of the Federal Security Service conducted searches at the homes and offices of the two men, as well as those of "several" other Energy Ministry employees.
An unidentified source at the Investigative Committee told MBKh Media that the alleged fraud was carried out under a state-subsidy program called Energy Efficiency And Development.
Senior Russian Energy Official Detained In Fraud Probe
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov (file photo)