MOSCOW, June 16 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday declined to reconsider the sentence handed down to ex-Defense Ministry official Yevgeniya Vasilyeva and her accomplices in the Oboronservis embezzlement case, RAPSI learnt in the court.

The court dismissed cassation appeals filed by ex-head of Oboronstroy company Larisa Yegorina and her former deputy Yuri Grekhnev sentenced to 4 years and 3 months and 4 years in prison respectively.

The Oboronservis criminal case was opened in 2012 after a major embezzlement scheme inside the Defense Ministry was revealed. This resulted in the dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Under the scheme, the accomplices, led by former Defense Ministry official Yevgeniya  Vasilyeva, allegedly sold facilities owned by the Defense Ministry at undervalued prices through Oboronservis companies and several other private companies. The embezzled funds amounted to 3 billion rubles ($45.5 mln). The deals were closed as part of a major Defense Ministry reform program that was to close unnecessary facilities and functions.

Vasilyeva was sentenced on May 8 to five years in prison for fraud, money laundering and abuse of office. Four of her accomplices were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 36 to 51 months. In late August 2015, a court in the Vladimir Region released Vasilyeva on parole.