MOSCOW, July 15 (RAPSI, Kirill Ryabchikov) – The Moscow City Court on Monday upheld seizure of 925 million rubles (nearly $15 million) owned by ex-Minister for Open Government affairs Mikhail Abyzov charged with 4-billion-ruble ($62 million) embezzlement, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court ordered the seizure to be imposed until August 25.

These accounts are not the only assets of Abyzov targeted by the seizure.

In total, courts have seized shares of several companies valued at 10 - 19 billion rubles ($159 – 300 million) belonging to Abyzov, 437 million rubles ($7 million) deposited in his bank accounts, two land plots and cottages in the Moscow Region, three flats, four rooms and a car parking space in Moscow belonging to the former minister.

According to investigators, between April 2011 and November 2014, Abyzov, the owner of several offshore companies, organized and headed a criminal group. The defendant along with his accomplices allegedly embezzled 4 billion rubles from Novosibirsk Region’s Siberian Energy Company and Regional Electrical Services generation and transmission corporations and transferred the money abroad.

A criminal case was opened against Abyzov on March 25. The former minister was arrested the next day. On April 3, Moscow’s court detained Abyzov until May 25. He pleads not guilty.

Also, on March 26, the court considered investigators’ motions to detain other alleged members of the criminal group including president of the Novosibirsk Regional Sambo Federation Nikolay Stepanov, board chairman of the First Construction Fund Alexander Pelipasov, deputy CEO of Ru-Com company Maxim Rusakov and finance director of REMIS firm Galina Fraidenberg. Ilichev, who had absconded investigators, was arrested later. Their detention terms were recently extended until late July as well.