Russia's Investigative Committee said on August 5 that a court in Moscow sent to pretrial detention Vyacheslav Akhmedov, the director of the Defense Ministry's Patriot Park near the capital, on fraud charges.
The committee said that the deputy chief of the Defense Ministry's Department for Innovative Development, Major General Vladimir Shesterov, was also detained in the case, and that a court decision on his pretrial restrictions was pending.
The announcement follows the arrests of several top military and Defense Ministry officials on corruption charges after President Vladimir Putin's dismissal of close ally Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in May and his replacement with former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.
Akhmedov and Shesterov are suspected of embezzling 40 million rubles ($467,430) that had been allocated for the Patriot Park and an exhibition hall just outside Moscow.
The news comes after media reports last month said police had searched the park's offices.
The park was launched in 2016 and occupies more than 3,500 hectares. It includes military museums, a site for the reconstruction of historic battles, and the military's main Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection.
Some media reports said the construction and development of the park was supervised by Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.
Ivanov, who holds the rank of major general, was arrested in April on bribe-taking charges. He pleaded not guilty. Shortly after his arrest, two businessmen -- Sergei Borodin and Aleksandr Fomin -- were also arrested in the case.
In mid-May, the chief of the Defense Ministry's Main Human Resources Department, Lieutenant General Yury Kuznetsov, was also arrested on bribe-taking charges.
On May 21, Major General Ivan Popov, the former commander of Russia's 58th Army who once complained about his forces' lack of support from Moscow, was arrested on fraud charges. Last month, he was transferred to house arrest.
On May 22, a Moscow court sent to pretrial detention the deputy chief of the armed forces General Staff, Lieutenant General Vadim Shamarin, on bribery charges.
Also in May, investigators arrested Vladimir Verteletsky, a top official of the Defense Ministry's Department for Handling Armament Orders, on a charge of abuse of power.
Last month, Russian officials confirmed the sudden death of Ivanov's direct subordinate, Magomed Khandayev, in June.