MOSCOW, November 17 (RAPSI) – A criminal case over embezzlement of 490 million rubles ($7.6 million) allocated for Russia’s state border infrastructure development involving the Federal Border Development Agency’s ex-head Dmitry Bezdelov has been forwarded to Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported Thursday.

According to the statement, Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin has approved an indictment in the case.

Investigators claim that in 2009, Bezdelov, then head of the Federal Border Development Agency, has conspired with a range of people to embezzle public funds allocated for the construction of checkpoints on the state border. From September 2009 to May 2013, they stole and laundered budget funds valued at 490 million rubles.

Bezdelov was charged with embezzlement and organizing a criminal gang with the use of his official position.

Bezdelov resigned from his post in October 2013 after a probe revealed inappropriate use of budget funds by the agency. He was arrested in Rome in October 2014 after he had been put on the international wanted list. Italy's court of appeals upheld the decision to extradite Bezdelov to Russia in October 2015. The Supreme Court left the judgment intact.

A criminal case against Bezdelov’s seven alleged accomplices is presently being considered by court.  Two other defendants have been already sentenced to long prison terms. One more defendant absconded during the trial and was put on the federal wanted list.