MOSCOW, May 16 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – The Sakhalin Regional Court has upheld a 3.5-year prison sentence given to Sakhalin’s former minister of investment and foreign ties Yekaterina Kotova for embezzlement of 3.2 million rubles (about $57,100), press-service of the regional prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.

The sentence came into force.

According to investigators, from December 2011 till June 2013 the convict embezzled funds allocated by the Investment Ministry for needs of Sakhalin agency development projects. Embezzled funds were used for various needs of the convict.

Kotova was appointed by Sakhalin’s ex-governor Alexander Khoroshavin. Currently, Khoroshavin is detained and prosecuted for alleged corruption.