MOSCOW, October 10- RAPSI.A criminal case opened against an Interior Ministry investigator for receiving a $3 million bribe is legal, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on Monday.

Investigators said Nelli Dmitriyeva extorted money from a businessman in exchange for the termination of a criminal case against him. Dmitriyeva has denied the charges.

She faces up to 15 years in prison. A Moscow district court issued an arrest warrant for Dmitriyeva upon the request of investigators on Wednesday. She later appealed the arrest warrant.

Media sources earlier reported that Dmitriyeva was involved in the notorious case of Sergei Magnitsky, a Hermitage Capital Management lawyer, who was accused of corporate tax evasion and died in a pretrial detention center in November 2009. His death evoked a public outcry. However, the Interior Ministry denied media allegations.