MOSCOW, July 16 (RAPSI) — The Moscow Commercial Court has approved extending until January 2022 the bankruptcy process of banker Georgy Bedzhamov, who is wanted in Russia on large-scale fraud charges after Vneshprombank failed, the court ruling reads.

Bedzhamov was declared bankrupt in July 2018.

In 2016, Bedzhamov was put on the international wanted list on embezzlement charges. Investigators believe that ex-Vneshprombank president Larisa Markus along with her brother Georgy Bedzhamov, who once co-owned the bank, created an organized crime group to siphon money from the bank. The group allegedly granted loans to sub-companies and did not refund money to Vneshprombank. Allegedly, from May 2009 to December 2015, conspirators managed to embezzle about 114 billion rubles ($1.5 billion at the current exchange rate).

In March 2016, the Moscow Commercial Court declared Vneshprombank, among Russia’s 40 biggest lenders by assets, bankrupt.

In May 2017, Markus was sentenced to 9 years in prison. Later, the sentence was reduced by 6 months.