MOSCOW, September 5 - RAPSI. A criminal case pending against investigator Sergei Pysin on suspicion of having negligently contributed to the death of a businesswoman has closed; Pysin had been investigating the activities of Vera Trifonova, who died in a Moscow's pretrial detention center, Investigative Committee Moscow Department's spokesperson Victoria Tsiplenkova told RIA Novosti.

"The case was closed after investigators concluded that there was no evidence of a crime," said Tsiplenkova. The investigation had been initiated on the basis of charges of neglect of duty.

Trifonova died of heart failure in the jail's medical ward in 2010. Investigators found no signs of foul play. The penitentiary service said that Trifonova was hospitalized due to severe diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

In 2009, Trifonova and Georgy Shamiryan, a Magadan lawmaker, were alleged to have conspired to steel $1.4 million from a bank president by promising to assist him in taking a senator's post.

Investigators closed the case against Trifonova last November due to her death. However, the Constitutional Court resolved in July 2011 that investigative authorities can no longer terminate a case against a suspect based solely upon his/her death since it contradicts the presumption of innocence.