NOVOSIBIRSK, September 21 - RAPSI. A new judge has been appointed to preside over the case of US pizza chain owner Eric Shogren in Novosobirsk after the previous judge was transferred to another court, a spokesperson for Novosibirsk Zheleznodorozhny District Court told RIA Novosti Friday.

Shogren has been accused of a large-scale fraud.

In 1996 Shogren started a pizza restaurant chain called New York Pizza in Novosibirsk. In April 2009, Shogren was detained for allegedly committing 17 counts of fraud while taking in a total of 15 million rubles ($485,190). Later the court released him with one million ruble ($32,350) bail bond.

Shogren's trial started in October 2010. Last July, Judge Galina Pudovkina, who was presiding over the trial, was reappointed as a regional court judge elsewhere. "The case was transferred to District Judge Sergei Sokolov," a court spokesperson said.

He said the trial would have to start over because of the judge's transfer. But the case cannot be restart until the results of a forensic audit, appointed by the previous judge, are submitted.

The businessman used several bank-issued credit cards to borrow somewhere between several thousand and several million rubles, including a credit card issued by the Bank of Moscow. Shogren then allegedly defaulted on his credit card debt, thus, the banks are the plaintiffs in the case.

Shogren said he does not admit his guilt in full. His attorneys claim that he had no intentions of committing a crime. His defense attorney blames the financial crisis for Shogren's financial difficulties.

More than 15 criminal charges have been initiated against the businessman. Shogren's assistant, Yevgenia Golovkina, also appeared before the court under similar charges. She too denies any wrong doing.