MOSCOW, September 10 - RAPSI. The Moscow City Court validated the investigators' refusal to return TV show host Ksenia Sobchak's money, which was seized during a search of her apartment as part of the Bolotnaya Ploshchad riots case, the court spokesperson told RAPSI on Monday. Over 1 million euro, $480,000 and 480,000 rubles ($15,130) were seized.
The court has dismissed her appeal against the Basmanny District Court's decision, which refused to obligate the investigation to return the funds. The court found that the issue falls within the investigators' competence rather than the court's.
Henry Reznik, Sobchak's attorney, said the money's legal status has yet to be defined. They have not been attached to the case in any way, or recognized as physical evidence, he said. An arrest has also not been placed on the funds.
The appeal reads that the funds have been transferred to the Investigative Committee's settlement account, which means that they do not contain information necessary for the investigators.
The lawyer said Sobchak is neither the suspect nor the defendant in the case. She was not even in Russia during the riots, he said.
Sobchak participates in the opposition rallies and was fined for holding an unauthorized rally.
On the eve of the March of Millions on June 12, the committee searched her apartment as part of the May 6 Bolotnaya Square riots case. The money was seized during the search. It later became known that an in-house audit of Sobchaks tax returns for 2011 has been scheduled.