MOSCOW, October 25 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld acquittal of the alleged leader of the Shchyolkovo organized crime gang, Alexander Matusov, who had been charged with murders and attempted assassinations, the court’s press-service told RAPSI on Wednesday.

The court’s panel dismissed an appeal against the acquittal and upheld the July 4 ruling of the Moscow Regional Court.

Matusov was acquitted based on the jurors’ verdict because he had not been involved in the incriminated crimes, and recognized his right to rehabilitation.

Matusov, aka Basmach, was arrested in Thailand at the request of Interpol’s National Central Bureau for Russia in June 2014.

He was charged with series of murders and attempted murders of businessmen. According to investigators, in November 1996 gangsters, including Basmach, attacked four businessmen, killing three of them. One of the victims survived, but was severely wounded.

Matusov was put on the wanted list in 2009, when police brought three murder charges against members of his crime group.

The Shchyolkovo gang was active from 1995 to 2009 and was notorious for contract killings, extortion and kidnappings in the Moscow and St. Petersburg areas. The gang members are suspected of having killed at least 60 people. In 2009, police found the bodies of 15 of the gang’s alleged victims in forests near Moscow.