MOSCOW, November 9 (RIA Novosti) - Roman Panov, prime minister of Russia’s Perm Territory and a former deputy Russian regional development minister, has been detained over the alleged embezzlement of funds earmarked for the APEC 2012 Summit, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

A number of other high-level officials are involved in the case, the ministry added.

The scam involved the diversion of 93 million rubles that were paid to fictitious construction and insurance firms, the ministry alleged.

Investigators carried out a search on Thursday at the Regional Development Ministry’s eastern branch as part of an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of nearly $6 million.

The ministry's Far East Administration was the state-appointed coordinator of construction projects for the APEC Vladivostok summit in September.

Preparations for the summit came under heavy criticism from the government. A 29 billion ruble ($1 billion) highway built for the event had to be repaired after weather and landslides caused sections of it to collapse.

The Federal Migration Service has fined a number of construction companies involved in the preparations for the summit for having illegally hired 12,000 foreign workers.