MOSCOW, July 17 - RAPSI. The Interior Ministry has reversed its decision to drop fraud charges against Foreign Economic Bank Deputy Chairman Anatoly Ballo, the Investigative Department reports on Tuesday.

The reversal has been necessitated by additional investigative actions, the ministry said.

Ballo and his alleged accomplices are suspected of embezzling $14 million allocated in 2008 for Evraziyskiy, a water supply operator in southern Russia.

The bank has been Evraziyskiy's major shareholder since 2006.

Investigators have uncovered that the stolen funds were deposited into Swiss bank accounts and charged Ballo with fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Initially, he was brought into the case as a witness, but a separate case was later opened against him.