MOSCOW, May 11 (RAPSI) – Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has forwarded a case against top managers of the Russian nanotechnology corporation Rusnano, charged with embezzlement of 220 million rubles ($2.9 million), to court, RIA Novosti reported Thursday citing the Prosecutor General’s Office’s spokesman Alexander Kurennoy.

Chaika therefore overturned a ruling of his deputy Viktor Grin to send the case back to the Investigative Committee for additional investigation.

On Thursday morning, lawyer Ruslan Kozhura told RAPSI that Leonid Melamed, former chief of Rusnano, who stands charged with embezzlement, had been released from house arrest. Former financial director Svyatoslav Ponurov was released from detention. Moreover, prosecutors refused to approve indictment in the case, the attorney added.

The Prosecutor General’s Office announced later that “gross violations” of criminal procedure legislation’s provisions preventing the approval of indictment had been revealed.

The Investigative Committee claims that between 2007 and 2009, Melamed along with ex- corporation managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov illegally transferred over 220 million rubles ($2.9 million) from Rusnano to Alemar Co. controlled by Melamed. The defendants pled not guilty.

According to the information available, the case was opened after the check of the corporation’s finance indicators by the Audit Chamber. The defendants have been charged with large-scale embezzlement of public funds.