MOSCOW, May 12 - RAPSI. MMM-2011 Ponzi scheme founder Sergei Mavrodi has denied the new charges brought against him, calling them unfounded. However, he will not be appealing them, Mavrodi told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI) on Saturday.

The Novosibirsk prosecutor's office opened a new case against Mavrodi on Friday. He has been accused of supporting the MMM-2011 branch in Novosibirsk, allegedly aiding and abetting their criminal business by giving advice and instructions to MMM-2011 local head Alexei Astafyev.

In early 2011 he was in the public eye again after announcing a new MMM-2011 electronic project. A number of officials and public figures have called the scheme another Mavrodi fraud.

In the early 1990s, between 10 and 15 million people were victims of Mavrodi's MMM Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for fraud and was released only in May 2007.