Got him! Director accused of fraud at new spaceport is detained in Belarus

A senior director suspected of embezzling funds from the construction of the new Vostochny cosmodrome has been arrested after going on the run.

The 45-year-old Georgian national, whose name has not been disclosed, had fled Russia after being accused of taking four million roubles ($75,000).

But he has finally been caught and detained in Belarus, and will now face the allegations and a potential prison sentence if found guilty.

It is alleged his company was given the money as an advance payment for contract work at the spaceport but the work did not start and he took the funds for his own needs.

Police in the Amur region put the shamed director on the international wanted list and he was located in Minsk, where he drove a luxury Mercedes car decorated with Swarovski diamonds. According to local media, it cost $300,000 (16 million roubles) to have the vehicle covered.

It was inside this car that he was detained by Belarus Special Forces on Monday, with the arrest recorded by officers and then distributed on the Internet.

In the recording it is clear that the director promises to give all the money back within a week. He will now be sent to Russia where police will continue their investigation.

The sprawling 551 sq km Vostochny complex, close to the Chinese border, will employ up to 25,000 people. Architects say the new community will be a 'one-of-its-kinds scientific and tourist space town with a unique design and beautiful landscape'.

In recent months it has been at the focus of a number of allegations of embezzlement involving senior figures.