MOSCOW, April 22 (RAPSI, Kirill Ryabchikov) – Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court on Monday lifted the seizure of 1.8 million rubles (about $30,000) belonging to ex-director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Alexander Reimer sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

The court therefore gave Reimer an opportunity to bid for release on parole.

The convict’s funds will be paid as a compensation for damage caused upon the court ruling.

In 2018, courts dismissed first claims of the convict to remove the funds attachment.

On August 22, 2018, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow ruled to recover over 2.2 billion rubles ($35 million at the current exchange rate) from Reimer and his accomplices convicted of embezzlement.

In June 2017, the court sentenced Reimer to 8 years in a penal colony for embezzling funds allocated for procurement of ankle bracelets, fined him 800,000 rubles (about $12,000), and stripped of his General rank.

Ex-deputy of FSIN Nikolay Krivolapov and an ex-director of FSIN’s Information and Technical Support Center Viktor Opredelyonov received 5 years and 8 months and 6 years in prison respectively. Krivolapov was fined 600,000 rubles ($9,000) while Opredelyonov got a 700,000-ruble fine ($11,000).

Lawyers of the defendants asked to repeal or soften the sentences. A lawyer of Reimer said that the Zamoskvorestsky District Court issued a ruling with numerous violations and that it did not study some of the case documents.

According to investigators, Reimer, Krivolapov and Opredelyonov conspired with businessman Nikolay Martynov. a head of “NPF Meta” company that was supplying bracelets for prison inmates, to embezzle monetary funds from the Russian state budget.

Between 2010 and 2012, Reimer and his accomplices stole money allocated for the purchase of ankle bracelets for persons placed under house arrest. The procurement was pursued at an enormously overvalued price. Damage allegedly caused to the state budget was estimated at no less than 2.7 billion rubles (over $40 million).

A case against Martynov was reviewed separately as he fully admitted his guilt in large-scale embezzlement. The businessman cooperated with investigators and announced that he is going to compensate the government with delivery of 7,000 new ankle bracelets.