MOSCOW, July 25 - RAPSI. The Moscow District Military Court has found former Chief Military Physician Alexander Belevitin guilty of abusing his power and large-scale bribe-taking, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency.

Alexei Nikitin, his deputy, former head of the department and retired colonel of the Medical Service, is also being tried in the case.

Investigators believe that Belevitin and Nikitin accepted 7 million rubles ($212,100) in bribes to act as intermediaries in signing medical equipment supply contracts for the Defense Ministry worth over 187 million rubles ($5.67 million).

It is estimated that the equipment was purchased at inflated prices and caused the government losses of over 51 million rubles ($1.5 million).

Belevitin has been sentenced to 8 years in prison