MOSCOW, November 2 (RAPSI) – Igor Borbot, who was charged in Russia with embezzling over 4 billion rubles ($60.6 million), filed a lawsuit against several top Russian officials, including Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade, as he fights against his deportation from U.S.

The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec Corporation, and Andrey Shishkin, Vice-President for Energy, Localization and Innovation for Rosneft, are named as co-defendants, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by RAPSI.

Borbot alleges that his prosecution in Russia and arrest in the US were a result of his refusal at one time to hand over to the defendants his assets, in particular his share in the Vladivostok Development Company (VDC) he founded in 1994, which invested in a number of profitable projects and was worth $350 million.

Borbot further claims that he was detained in New York since April because of the false and fabricated charges brought against him in Russia.

Aleksey Boytsov, a former Chief Operating Officer of the Vladivostok Development Company, was detained in California as well. He joined the lawsuit which lists seven counts.

Borbot and Boytsov challenge the lawfulness of their detention in the U.S. Both men claim infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) of 1970, defamation, unlawful conversion of property, as well as abuse of process in Russia and extortion.

Meanwhile, several criminal cases were opened in Russia over the alleged embezzlement during the construction of a shipbuilding complex, according to Kommersant newspaper. Borbot and some of his former colleagues are reportedly implicated in the probe. Borbot was put on the wanted list after he had left Russia.

The Russian Prosecutor General's office is seeking Borbot’s deportation since there is no extradition agreement between Russia and the U.S., according to Kommersant.