MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI) - A criminal case has been initiated against a man who tried to bring in more than 4,500 illegal immigrants to Moscow, the Interior Ministry told RIA Novosti on Friday.

The ministry's spokesman said that the man tried to register the migrants with the local department of the Federal Migration Service, knowing that the immigrants would not live at the address provided for registry.

The police later said that the man was identified as Pavel Kovalenko, Secretary of the Union for Protecting Migrants Rights. He filed a notice with the southern Moscow Federal Migration Service, and tried to register more than 4,500 illegals at a commercial property building being used by the Union.

The police investigator qualified this as solicitation of illegal immigration. The activist now faces up to 5 years in prison. The police are tracking down the immigrants, who have already crossed the Russian border.