The Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated a number of criminal cases on the theft of budget funds allocated for the modernization of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. As a source in law enforcement agencies told Rosbalt, the criminal case was initiated by the MIA of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Vlasikha under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (embezzlement on a particularly large scale). Investigators found that in 2010 a state contract between the Federal Space Agency and OAO RSC Energia for a total of 3.3 billion rubles was made, which provides for the modernization of the on-board systems of the station and the ground control loop of the Russian segment of the ISS.

CJSC "Mercury", headed by Alexander Polyakov, was included in the list of co-executors under the state contract. This company, in particular, was supposed to modernize the stations for measuring radio visibility zones by station antennas and to investigate the mutual influence of the elements of the design of manned vehicles and ISS in the process of approach and mooring.

As established by the investigation, more than 500 million rubles from the funds received was stolen by the management of ZAO "Mercury". Then this money was cashed and distributed between the participants of the scam