MOSCOW, October 14 (RAPSI) – The 330-million-ruble ($5 million) Roscosmos embezzlement case has been sent to court for hearing with an approved indictment.
Defendants, who face trial, are chairman of Tretyakov & Partners law firm Igor Tretyakov, ex-CEO of the S.A. Lavochkin Scientific Union Sergey Lemeshevsky and chief of the Union’s legal department Yekaterina Averyanova.
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for October 15 in the Khimki City Court in the Moscow Region, Tretyakov's attorney Stanislav Shostak told RAPSI on Monday.
According to the investigation, 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 has pleaded not guilty, while Averyanova has admitted guilt and signed a deal with investigators in exchange for release from detention under house arrest.
During the probe, assets of the defendants totaling to nearly 400 million rubles have been seized.
Moreover, on September 5, the Moscow District Commercial Court upheld lower courts’ rulings to recover 308 million rubles from ($4.5 million) from Tretyakov.