MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova) – The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s ruling to extend the detention of ex-Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov, who stands charged with embezzling 100 million rubles ($1.5 million) of public funds allocated for restoration of cultural heritage objects, until March 15, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court dismissed an appeal by Pirumov’s defense seeking to put the accused under house arrest.

According to court papers, Pirumov pleaded guilty and began paying for damage.

In March 2016, Deputy Minister of Culture Pirumov, director of the Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo, head of the Center of restoration Oleg Ivanov, head of BaltStroy Dmitry Sergeyev and the company’s manager Alexander Kochenov, businessman Nikita Kolesnikov, head of a state-owned “Directorate for construction, reconstruction and restoration” Boris Tsagarayev and project manager of companies “Stroykomplekt” and “Baltstroy” Vladimir Svanbek have been arrested and put in detention in the so-called “case of restorers”.

Moreover, the court ordered seizure of assets belonging to Mazo and Pirumov.

Later, Kochenov, Kolesnikov and Sergeyev were released from jail and placed under house arrest, according to the newspaper.

Investigation has presumably started basing on a report by the Auditing Chamber on restoration of the Izborsk Fortress in the Pskov region presented yet in 2013; however, it may also involve such cultural heritage sites as the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, as well as works carried out at the Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow, and a theater in Pskov, as reported earlier.

In December, Dmitry Medvedev, the Chairman of the Russian Government, relieved Pirumov of his post.