Mr. Protopopov, whose recent public tasks included inspecting the prisons in Crimea after the peninsula was annexed from Ukraine in March 2014, led the prison service in the Komi region from 2010 until he was promoted last year. He was arrested in Moscow, and faces up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted of using his official position to steal state property.

While he was in Komi, Mr. Protopopov won a medal for fomenting “spiritual unity,” the Kommersant report said, without specifying whether the unity was with the crews doing the illicit road work. Some others involved in the scheme also face criminal charges.