MOSCOW, October 12 - RAPSI. Goldman Sachs has filed a motion with a New York court to dismiss its former programmer's claim for the legal fees paid to his attorneys during the company's lawsuit against him for source code theft, according to the court records made available to the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Friday.

On March 18, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced programmer Sergei Aleynikov, who was born in Russia but later obtained U.S. citizenship, to just over eight years in prison for stealing and transferring Goldman Sachs' trading system source code. His attorney then appealed the ruling. In February, the programmer was released.

Aleynikov seeks from Goldman Sachs the $2.4 million that he paid to his lawyers. He has argued that, according to the company's charter, it must reimburse managers for legal fees paid during lawsuits concerning actions that they committed during their work at the firm.

He also seeks in advance the legal fees to be paid in a second case that has been opened against him by the New York Attorney's Office. Aleynikov has been charged with the unlawful use of confidential research and wrongfully copying computer data.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Aleynikov worked at Goldman Sachs for over two years. He was responsible for developing programs and supporting the bank's trading system.

Prosecutors claim that Aleynikov resigned from Goldman Sachs in 2009 to accept a job at the Chicago-based trading firm Teza, where he would be responsible for creating another high-traffic computer trading program to compete with Goldman Sachs. Aleynikov allegedly took over 3,600 lines of source code from the Goldman Sachs program on his last day with the firm.

He was arrested in August 2009 at the Newark airport.