MOSCOW, November 11 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has extended house arrest of ex-Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov for 3 months as part of a 450-million-ruble (about $7 million) embezzlement case, RAPSI was told in the court’s press service on Monday.

The court has also extended house arrest of another defendant in the case, head of Rospan company Nikita Kolesnikov, for the same term, until February 16.

Pirumov was released from detention and put under house arrest on August 12.

Former Deputy Culture Minister stands charged with embezzlement and creation of a criminal organization.

Investigators believe that Pirumov, Kolesnikov, wanted ex-director of the Culture Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo and their accomplices have stolen at least 450 million rubles (about $7 million) allocated for the construction of the Hermitage Museum’s buildings. The defendants have pleaded not guilty.

In an earlier case against Pirumov, the Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow found him guilty of stealing more than 100 million rubles and sentenced him to 1.5 years in a penal colony in October 2017. The court took into consideration the time Pirumov spent in detention and freed him in the courtroom. Prosecutors repeatedly appealed against the sentence. In December, the Moscow City Court imposed a 1-million-ruble (about $15,000) on ex-official and deprived him of the second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland. In January, his punishment was toughened up to 3 years behind bars.

Investigators claimed that between 2012 and 2016 Pirumov, currently wanted ex-director of the Culture Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo and several other defendants embezzled over 160 million rubles ($2.4 million) allocated on restoration of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow and other objects across Russia.

On August 8, 2019, Moscow’s Preobrazhensky District Court granted parole to Pirumov as part of this case.