MOSCOW, February 24 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has extended until May 27 the detention of former governor of the Sakhalin Region, Alexander Khoroshavin, who stands accused of taking bribes, his lawyer Ivan Mironov told RAPSI on Wednesday.

Detention of Andrei Ikramov, former advisor of Khoroshavin who is charged with being involved in a bribery scheme, has been also extended for three months.

Investigators announced in March 2015 that Khoroshavin and several other officials were arrested for allegedly taking a $5.6 million bribe to secure a contract to build a power unit for the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk thermal plant.

Last April, Khoroshavin was charged in another criminal case with taking a bribe of at least 15 million rubles ($194,500) for providing credits on advantageous terms to one of the local businessmen. He pleaded not guilty.

In January, the third criminal case was opened against Khoroshavin. According to investigators, he took 27 million rubles ($350,000) in bribes from candidates for the positions in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Duma in 2014.

President Vladimir Putin dismissed Khoroshavin from his post due to “loss of trust” in March 2015.