MOSCOW, January 20 (RAPSI) – The case of alleged embezzlement at the Rosatom state nuclear corporation, involving former Rosatom Deputy CEO Yevgeny Yevstratov and current Deputy CEO of Atomflot Mustafa Kashka, has been sent to court, Kommersant newspaper wrote on Monday.

Atomflot is a Rosatom subsidiary which operates the country’s icebreaker fleet and auxiliary vessels.

According to the Interior Ministry, Yevstratov was responsible for nuclear and radiation safety at the corporation from December 2007 to April 2011. In 2008-2009, 50 million rubles ($1.5 million at the current exchange rate) were allocated to Rosatom for research purposes.

Yevstratov has been accused of embezzling this money. The investigators maintain that he acted in collusion with several directors who were responsible for nuclear power facility engineering at federal enterprises. One of his three alleged accomplices agreed to cooperate with the investigation, and was then released on his own recognizance.

The investigation established that Yevstratov’s subordinates did not do their own research but presented material downloaded from the Internet as their own work and embezzled the funds allocated to Rosatom. Investigators believe another 60 million rubles ($1.8 million) were also embezzled. This was money allocated in 2009 for the construction of two nuclear fuel waste recycling facilities.

The investigation ended in August 2011, but the defendants and their lawyers did their best to postpone the hearing of their cases. According to Kommersant, at the prehearing the lawyers plan to request that the cases be returned to investigators for closing alleged loopholes.