MOSCOW, September 5 (RAPSI) – The Moscow District Commercial Court on Thursday upheld lower courts’ rulings ordering recovery of 308 million rubles from ($4.5 million) from Chairman of Tretyakov & Partners law firm Igor Tretyakov involved in the Roscosmos embezzlement case, RAPSI reported from the courtroom.

The court therefore dismissed appeals lodged by the Moscow Region prosecutor’s office, Tretyakov himself, Moscow’s interregional bar association.

In late November 2018, the Moscow Regional Commercial Court ordered recovery of the money Tretyakov allegedly received in the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union under the pretence of legal services. The court also declared 21 contracts signed by the Scientific Union and the lawyer between July 2016 and January 2018 invalid.

The court therefore granted a claim filed by the Moscow Region Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo) and the state corporation Roscosmos. Prosecutors insisted that the agreements were invalid as Tretyakov had not participate in court proceedings himself. Thus, the lawyer has only created a semblance of his activity.

In May, the Tenth Commercial Court of Appeals dismissed upheld the ruling.

Currently, Tretyakov is a defendant in the case on embezzling 330 million rubles (about $5 million) from Roscosmos. His detention was recently extended until October 19. Two other defendants, ex-CEO of the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union Sergey Lemeshevsky and chief of the Union’s legal department Yekaterina Averyanova were also detained. Later, Averyanova admitted guilt and signed a deal with investigators in exchange for release from detention under house arrest.

According to investigators, the defendants have stolen assets of Roscosmos by signing fraudulent contracts for provision of legal services with the law firm. All the works were allegedly performed by the corporation’s own specialists. The overall sum of payments to the firm reached 330 million rubles.

Tretyakov pleads not guilty.