MOSCOW, June 25 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has dismissed an appeal against extension of detention of the former Rosgosstrakh group vice-president Sergey Khachaturov as part of a case over embezzlement, RAPSI has learnt in the court’s press office.

The defendant will stay detained until July 18.

However, he was absent from the appeal hearing as he waived this right, according to a representative of the court.

Khachaturov has been charged with appropriation of Rosgosstrakh’s shares. Until 2017, the group of companies was controlled by the brother of the defendant Danil Khachaturov and was later transferred to Otkritie financial company. According to media reports, losses of the company that year reached over 55 billion rubles ($850 million at the current exchange rate).

Another defendant in the case is head of Legion Finance company, ex-shareholder of Rosgosstrakh bank Nadezhda Klepalskaya. Currently, she is being held under house arrest.

The defendant’s attorney Alexey Melnikov earlier told RAPSI that in fact, during a lawful stock trade, Khachaturov had sold shares of Rosgosstrakh to Trust bank. The lawyer has noted that the deal, found to be illegal by investigators, has been supervised by the Central Bank of Russia.

In May 2018, Khachaturov’s defense asked Russia’s ombudsman for business rights Boris Titov to provide assistance against unlawful detention and prosecution of their client.