A former Russian defense official was ordered detained on fraud charges Thursday in the latest high-profile arrest of a senior military figure in what appears to be a widespread investigation into misuse of power among the highest ranks of the military leadership.

Former Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov could face up to 10 years in prison if he is formally charged and convicted after being detained on suspicion of fraud, Russian state news agencies reported Thursday.

The case against Popov centers on business dealings at a large park in Moscow, sometimes called Russia's “military Disneyland.”

Patriot Park, a personal project of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, is designed to inspire patriotism in Russia’s young generations and displays Soviet and Russian weaponry. It has a shooting range, air base, museums and conference center and a large, khaki-colored Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, which features mosaics of Soviet and Russian soldiers. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally contributed funds to commission the main icon for the church, according to the Kremlin.

Popov is now the eighth top military official to be arrested on charges of fraud, bribery or abuse of power in recent months, including Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was arrested for bribery in April and later removed from his position. The arrests began shortly before Putin replaced long-time defense minister Sergei Shoigu with an economist, Andrei Belousov. Analysts suggest the arrests are a sign that the most serious corruption in the defense ministry will no longer be tolerated.

Former deputy defense minister Popov was responsible for the development and maintenance of Patriot Park and is accused of using park funds to renovate his own properties in the Moscow region. Tass reports he is charged with fraud alongside the park director and Maj. Gen Vladimir Shesterov, deputy of the Defense Ministry’s innovations department, both of whom have already been taken into custody.

Popov compelled companies with contracts with Patriot Park to perform work on his “out-of-town apartments without paying for the services,” Svetlana Petrenko from Russia's Investigative Committee told state news agency Tass.

In addition to a plot of land with residences outside Moscow, Popov and his family own “numerous properties in prestigious areas of Moscow, the Moscow Region and the Krasnodar Region,” in southern Russia, Petrenko said. These properties are worth a total of 500 million roubles ($5.5 million) and investigators are determining whether they were acquired lawfully, Petrenko told Tass.

Popov was a deputy defense minister from 2013 to June this year when he was dismissed by a presidential decree. His arrest follows shortly after that of Former Deputy Defense Minister Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov who was detained in Moscow in July.

According to Tass, Bulgakov is charged with large-scale misappropriation of funds. He reportedly supervised the creation of a system to supply substandard food rations to Russian troops at inflated prices. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Bulgakov served as the deputy defense minister from 2008 until September 2022, when he was removed from his position. He was responsible for logistics during his tenure, and although the ministry claimed he was transitioning to a different role, the move was widely perceived as a consequence of shortcomings in supporting military operations in Ukraine .