MOSCOW, October 17 - RAPSI. The court has adjourned until October 26 its hearing of the cassation appeal against the sentence of a criminal gang convicted of stealing $40.3 million from the Pension Fund, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) reports from the courtroom.

A Moscow district court on August 4 found former policeman Yuri Shcherbakov guilty of organizing and masterminding a theft of $40.3 million and sentenced him to 6.5 years in prison. The other five defendants in the case, who pleaded guilty along with Shcherbakov, were sentenced from three to six years in prison.

The Investigative Committee earlier said the unidentified individual submitted on November 13, 2009 a forged document to the Central Bank's operational department to obtain funds for the construction of the Pension Fund's facilities.

The Central Bank transferred the sum to the bank account of a shell company at Kuban Bank, from where the money was transferred in six tranches to the bank accounts of other shell companies in Cyprus.