Head of Russian space company arrested on fraud charge: State media

Yevgeny Fomichev, the head of a company that makes navigation systems for Russia’s space program, was arrested in Moscow and charged with major fraud, state news agencies reported on Friday.

TASS news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying that Fomichev had been arrested, interrogated and charged with large-scale fraud, which carries a potential prison term of up to 10 years and a million ruble ($10,972) fine.

TASS said Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, had asked Moscow’s Basmanny court to remand Fomichev in pre-trial detention for two months.

Fomichev is head of NPP Geophysics-Cosmos, a company whose website says it manufactures “optical electronic orientation and navigation devices for spacecraft.” It says that almost all Russian spacecraft use its equipment.

Russia’s space program suffered a huge setback in August when its Luna-25 spacecraft smashed into the surface of the moon while attempting to land there.

An investigation blamed a malfunction in an on-board control unit for the failure of Russia’s first moon mission for 47 years.