MOSCOW, July 15 (RAPSI) – A court in the Kirov region has granted a motion for parole release of Maxim Zakutaylo, an accomplice of Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, who was found guilty in the Oboronservis embezzlement case, his lawyer, Oleg Bessonov told RAPSI on Friday.

Zakutaylo will be released from the penal colony in 10 years.

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 ($45.8 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.