MOSCOW, August 30 (RAPSI) – The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow has set preliminary hearing in the so-called “case of restorers” launched against an alleged organized criminal group charged with embezzlement of about 164 million rubles (about $2.8 million) on September 7, RAPSI learnt from the court’s press-service on Wednesday.

The hearing will be held behind closed doors.

On August 28, one of the defendants in the case, head of BaltStroy Dmitry Sergeyev, received 4.5 years-long suspended sentence. According to the prosecutor, the fraud involving Sergeyev resulted in the embezzlement of 71 million rubles ($1.2 million) and the defendant himself unlawfully obtained 11 million rubles ($188,000).

On June 6, it was revealed that former Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov and other defendants in the case paid about 163 million rubles in damages (about $2.7 million).

In March 2016, Pirumov, head of the Center of restoration Oleg Ivanov, director of the Ministry’s department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo, 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 were arrested.

Kolesnikov was later put under house arrest while Kochenov was released on ten million rubles ($176,500) bail.

In November 2016, Komersant newspaper reported that some of the defendants, including Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov, pleaded guilty.

Investigators believe that in 2012-2016 the defendants embezzled over 164 million rubles allocated on restoration of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow and other objects across Russia.

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