MOSCOW, October 1 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court on Wednesday refused to release ousted Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov, who has been accused of bribery, on 15-million rubles (about $381,000) bail, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Judge Andrei Korotkov therefore granted the investigators’ motion and extended Urlashov’s detention until January 3.

According to investigators, Urlashov, who was elected to the mayoral post in April 2012, together with three of his assistants extorted a bribe of 45 million rubles ($1.2 million) from businessmen.

The police detained Urlashov on July 3, 2013. He pleaded not guilty and said that his prosecution was a result of "political games."

Urlashov, a member of the ruling United Russia party in 2008-2011, became a candidate for the opposition during mayoral elections in 2012. He achieved a landslide victory over a United Russia candidate Yakov Yakushev. A member of billionaire-turned-politician Mikhail Prokhorov’s Civic Platform party, he planned to take part in the elections to the Yaroslavl regional parliament in September 2013.

On July 18, 2013, Urlashov was removed from his mayoral post.