MOSCOW, February 15 (RAPSI, Nikolay Merkulov) - Four defendants in a criminal case over embezzlement of 1.3 billion rubles ($23 million) during Vostochny Cosmodrome construction were found guilty on Thursday, RAPSI reported from the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow.

In January, a prosecutor demanded 8 years in prison for former CEO of Volga-Vyatka construction company (VVCC) Yevgeniya Degtyareva, 10 years in prison for her father Sergey Degtyarev, who is believed to be the real owner of the company, and 7 years in prison for ex-VVCC managers Alexander Bazankov and Murat Matuyev each. Moreover, the prosecutor asked the court to impose fines ranging from 1 to 1.5 million rubles on the defendants.

Investigators claim that in 2014, managers of Volga-Vyatka construction company (VVCC), a subcontractor for construction of roads to Vostochny Cosmodrome, received 300 million rubles ($5.3 million) as a down payment and expend the money for purposes other than that intended. Moreover, they channeled the public money to affiliated firms and individuals at a charge. According to the indictment, the total damage caused by the defendants is estimated at over 1.3 billion rubles.

The construction of the space center, due to become Russia's main launch site, began in 2012. The first launch vehicle operation was carried out on April 28, 2016.

Dozens of cases over embezzlement during the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome have been launched in several Russian regions.