MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court on Monday upheld the house arrest of Leonid Melamed, former chief of the Russian nanotechnology corporation Rusnano who stands charged with embezzlement, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Melamed will remain under house arrest until March 1.

The Investigative Committee claims that Melamed illegally transferred 220 million rubles ($2.8 million) worth of budget funding, allotted to Rusnano in 2007-2009, to Alemar Co., which he controlled. Former top Rusnano managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov are also involved in the case. The suspects pled not guilty.

In 2008, when the deal was being closed, Anatoly Chubais had already replaced Melamed, corporate sources said. They added that Melamed had not inflicted any losses on the company and promised to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov said the buzz around this case would negatively affect the national business climate and the investigation itself.