MOSCOW, October 23 - RAPSI. Investigators have frozen the assets of former Bank of Moscow CEO Andrei Borodin and his former deputy Dmitry Akulinin which were held in foreign bank accounts, the Russian Interior Ministry reported on Tuesday. The former officials are suspected of major fraud.

"The investigators have put a hold on assets owned by former Bank of Moscow top officials Andrei Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin. Over $400 million belonging to former Bank of Moscow head Andrei Borodin were frozen by investigators. The funds were being held in bank accounts in Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg... Borodin's Bank of Moscow shares were also seized," the press release reads.

A case was launched against the officials in late 2010. Borodin and Akulinin were accused of stealing 12.76 billion rubles ($409.95 million) from the Moscow city budget.

The Bank of Moscow allocated the amount to the Premier Estate company, which used the funds in 2009 to buy a 58 hectare land plot in western Moscow from Ramenskaya trade house, owned by Yelena Baturina, Russia's richest woman and wife of former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov.

The bank sold additional shares worth 15 billion rubles ($481.92 million) before granting the loan. The shares were purchased by the Moscow City Hall as a major shareholder.

Investigators believe that the Bank of Moscow executives knew the pledge information provided to Premier Estate was false, although the pledge was designed to act as security for the loan.

However, the source said they confused the bank's management by fraudulently assessing the credit risk.

Another case was also initiated against Borodin and Akulinin last winter for the embezzlement of over 6.7 billion rubles ($215.25 million). Additionally, a case for the theft of 540 million rubles ($17.34 million) from the bank is also in progress. The names of the suspects have not been disclosed.

In November 2011, Interpol's Russian office placed Borodin and Akulinin on the international wanted list after they fled the country.