MOSCOW, October 10 (RAPSI) - Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov has asked Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman to examine criminal proceedings against a co-owner of Ulmart company Dmitry Kostygin, a defendant in a fraud case.

According to Titov, the case against Kostygin is based on civil law and should be reviewed as a civil one.

Kostygin also stands charged with large-scale credit fraud.

According to case papers, the businessman acting as the Board Chairman of Ulmart provided false information on the company’s financial position to Sberbank for signing a loan agreement. In April, Sberbank transferred 1 billion rubles ($17.3 million at the current exchange rate) to the company’s account. The accused allegedly managed the money in his discretion.

The defendant pleaded not guilty, his lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin told RAPSI earlier.

Earlier, the Smolninsky District Court of St. Petersburg granted an application by Sberbank seeking to invalidate the contract concluded between Kostygin and businessman Oleg Morozov, on the basis of which a bankruptcy petition was filed against Ulmart.

In February 2015, Ulmart received a 250-million–ruble credit from Kostygin for a year. In early 2016, Kostygin assigned his right to claim a debt to Morozov. The businessman in turn filed a bankruptcy petition against Ulmart with a commercial court because the company did not pay the debt.

Moreover, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg collected 653 million rubles ($11.3 million) in debt from Kostygin in favor of VTB bank.

Ulmart group of companies is the largest Russian private Internet holding focusing on e-commerce segment. The company’s distribution network consists of over 400 sales outlets across more than 240 Russian cities and towns.