MOSCOW, June 29 (RAPSI) – The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow initiated hearings in a criminal case against Yukos oil company’s former lawyer Pavel Ivlev, who is charged with embezzlement, attorney Sergey Kupreichenko has told RAPSI.

The attorney filed two motions, asking the court to bring politician Alexey Navalny into the trial as Ivlev’s lawyer and to organize a video conference with Ivlev, a U.S. citizen currently residing in the United States.

Representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office asked the court to postpone the hearings to get some time to respond. The request was granted and next hearing in the case is scheduled on July 4.

According to investigators, ex-lawyer was a member of an organized crime group led by ex-Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which could embezzle more than 195 million metric tons of oil belonging to Yuganskneftegaz, Samaraneftegaz and Tomskneft companies.

Investigators believe that the amount of embezzled funds reaches about one trillion rubles ($15.9 billion).