$200M 'Embezzled' Through Glonass Contractor

A major space industry contractor stole 6.5 billion rubles ($200 million) in federal funds earmarked for the troubled Glonass satellite navigation system, Moscow police said at a briefing on Friday.

Managers at Russian Space Systems used various schemes, including fly-by-night companies, to embezzle money meant for maintaining and upgrading Glonass, Russia's GPS-like network, police said in a statement from the briefing.

The sum is three times the size of an estimate offered on Wednesday, which was itself several times larger than a figure announced in June, when police first announced an investigation into the firm.