MOSCOW, July 11 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova) – The Shcherbinsky District Court in Moscow has sentenced Artur Kovalenko, a defendant in the case over illegal cashing in of 3.1 billion rubles ($51 million), to 2.5 years in prison, the court’s spokesperson Svetlana Yekhtanigova told RAPSI on Tuesday.

Kovalenko has already appealed the ruling, according to the court’s representative.

The man was found guilty of illegal banking activity connected to a large-scale income generation.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Kovalenko conspired with unidentified persons to organize a system of sham companies under his control carrying out illegal bank transactions in the form of transfer and cashing in of money.
The court and investigators found that from May 2010 to January 2016, Kovalenko cashed over 3.1 billion rubles and received about 199 million rubles ($3.3 million) in requital.

The defendant has pleaded guilty.