MOSCOW, October 24 (RAPSI) – The cost of purchase of tracking devices for the needs of Russian Federal Penitentiary Service was exceeded by 1.65 billion rubles ($5.2 million), the Audit Chamber reported Thursday.

The Audit Chamber says that the over-spending occurred because no tender was set up, and no control over the price limit was implemented.

In April, an investigation was launched in connection with the improper spending of over 1 billion rubles ($31.4 million) to purchase electronic bracelets - devices which monitor individuals under house arrest or other forms of restraint. It was revealed that the batch of bracelets bought was missing GLONASS positioning components.

According to the Investigative Committee, the scheme was implemented by penitentiary service officials and executives of the TSITOS state company which supplied the non-operational bracelets.

An investigation also revealed that the tracking devices were not linked to GLONASS, Russia’s answer to the US Global Positioning System, or GPS, and were effectively useless.

The revelations came to light during a much-vaunted Kremlin anti-corruption campaign, which reached as high up as the ministerial level, leading to the resignation of the Defense Minister last November.