VLADIMIR Putin has publicly shamed his millionaire deputy defence minister by parading him into court on corruption charges.
Timur Ivanov, 48, was originally accused of accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale” by paranoid Putin but could also face accusations of treason, it has been reported.
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Ivanov is known for his lavish lifestyle – being the proud owner of two Rolls Royces with his wife Svetlana being described as a “shopaholic” who could blow millions in a single spree.
Fresh reports out of Russia claim the real reason for Ivanov’s arrest is that he was suspected of high treason and the bribery case is just a cover-up.
Many believe it is Putin himself who made the Investigative Committee send him to jail after hearing the shocking news.
A source told Important Stories news outlet: “A bribe is for the public. So far they don’t want to talk publicly about treason – it’s a big scandal, after all [he is] the Deputy Minister of Defence.”
A second source in the Russian security sector claimed the Kremlin knew about the potential treason charges for some time and was planning the bogus corruption charge all along.
They said: “No one would have detained him for corruption. Everyone there [in the Kremlin] knew about this for a long time.
“Putin gave the command after he managed to convince us that we were talking about treason.”
Despite this, Kremlin spokesmen Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “There are many different interpretations around all this now… You need to focus on official information.”
Ivanov is one of 12 Russian deputy defence ministers and is the top official in charge of the country’s construction of military facilities.
The minister has always been seen as proud Russian and one of Putin’s close cronies.
He is known for his wealth and is often seen around glamorous women at lavish parties.
He was pictured being detained by the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top law enforcement agency, yesterday.
He took to the dock today, still in his military uniform, to discuss the corruption accusations.
Ivanov, who could face up to 15 years behind bars if found guilty of accepting bribes, has denied all claims against him.
After the hearing, Ivanov was embarrassed by Putin’s men and made to strip out of his military uniform into regular clothes.
He was also shoved around and held down by aggressive FSB officers as they slammed him into the back of a vehicle.
INVESTIGATORS claim Ivanov has made millions over the years through corrupt deals to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Ivanov and his glamorous shopaholic ex-wife Svetlana own a huge mansion along with two Rolls Royces.
Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) allege she laundered “bloody money” that her husband earned from the Ukraine war.
According to the ACF, in 2020 Svetlana alone once spent about £1.1 million despite the couple have a joint official income of £260,000.
The couple regularly took month-long holidays at a sprawling villa in the south of France where they used a Rolls-Royce Corniche as their run around – one of two they own.
They once spent £150,000 a month renting a villa there and also £82,000 hiring a yacht, according to documents obtained by the ACF.
A birthday bash she once held in Istanbul cost £157,000 alone.
It has also been alleged the Ivanovs own several elite estates in Russia “worth hundreds of millions of rubles” and “spend hundreds of millions more on their repairs”.
Among the properties they own is an enormous mansion by the banks of the Volga river.
The couple married in 2010 and were serenaded by German band Modern Talking, who were paid £62,000 for their appearance.
They were regularly pictured at parties alongside Russia’s elite, quaffing champagne.
Spending also included £75,000 on 19th century furniture, £21,000 on gold statues, £7,500 on a gold clock and £6,200 on glass birds as well as £107,400 on antiques and £11,000 on bathroom accessories.
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He is now set to spend two months in pre-trial detention in the grim Lefortovo jail in Moscow, ruled the Basmanny district court.
Ivanov has been made to face several claims of corruption in the past while running the military’s infrastructure budget.
He even made the bizarre call to rebuild the Ukrainian city of Mariupol blitzed after Russia had invaded and turned it into rubble.
Late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation accused Ivanov of being involved in “corruption schemes during construction in the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia”.
The father-of-two has been sanctioned by a number of European countries since Putin’s horror invasion of Ukraine over two years ago.
Globally the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand have also noted him as a highly dangerous individual for his links to the Kremlin and his actions towards Ukraine.
The European Union – who has also sanctioned him – described Ivanov as the “tenth in the overall hierarchy of the Russian military leadership”.
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The FSB has been probing Ivanov for five years, say reports.
Sergei Borodin, described by Russian media as Ivanov’s “Batman”, has also been detained on similar charges.
The arrests come as Putin continues to shuffle around his regime following his sham election win last month.
His latest inauguration ceremony is set for next month as Russia looks to step up their operations in the war in Ukraine to finally get the upper hand.
Last year in December, the general in charge of Putin’s feared “Satan-2” nukes was dramatically arrested in a fraud scandal that rocked Moscow.
Lieutenant General Oleg Frolov, 61, the deputy director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was held along with two other alleged co-conspirators.
He was accused of playing a role in a play to steal £4million from the Russian state – which is known to be rife with corruption.
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