The son of a former Russian defense minister who was ousted in a corruption scandal over sales of ministerial property appears to himself own land bought from the Defense Ministry, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny has said.
According to cadastral land records published on Navalny's website last week, 27-year-old Sergei Serdyukov, son of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, is the owner of a 1.9 hectare estate near St. Petersburg.
The territory, as well as a historical residence that stands on it, were owned by the Defense Ministry before being auctioned off in 2010 to businessman Pyotr Usov for 154.4 million rubles ($2.6 million), according to an excerpt of an article from the Vedomosti newspaper published on Navalny's site. Usov's brother is Alexander Usov, a business partner of ex-Defense Minister Serdyukov's son-in-law, Navalny said.
It was not clear how the property then moved from Usov's hands to Sergei Serdyukov's, who according Navalny also owns another 18 commercial real estate properties including warehouses and gas stations.
The elder Serdyukov, appointed as defense minister in 2007, was dismissed in 2012 after becoming a suspect in an investigation over ministry properties being sold off at bargain basement prices. He was later accused of using troops to build a private road to a resort spot, but was amnestied in 2014 by a presidential decree.
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