MOSCOW, July 15 (RAPSI) – The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow is to examine the merits of the criminal case against Sergey Yuryev, the president of Moscow's bar association Mezhregion charged with embezzling 1 billion rubles (about $15 million), on July 23.

Yuryev and two other defendants in the case are charged with grave embezzlement and accessory in embezzlement.

Investigators allege that in 2008, the State ATM Corporation signed a contract for legal services with a bar association. The bar chairman using his connections with a former colleague and an official of the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) submitted a conclusion with a write-up value of legal services for the completion of tender documentation. The signed agreement has been repeatedly prolonged in violation of the established procedure.

The overpricing of a state contract resulted in the fact that the bar association has unlawfully gained over 1 billion rubles in the period from 2008 to 2018, investigators claim.

Yuryev pled not guilty. He is in detention.

Members of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers’ Council and heads of several regional bar associations have repeatedly stood bond for Yuryev. He is an honest and reputable attorney, the Chamber’s statement reads. One of the lawyer’s bail bondsmen was Chair of the Federal Chamber of Lawyer Yury Pilipenko.

Sergey Yuryev is a reputable lawyer who has been in profession for over 25 years, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Lawyers, a member of the Russian Association of International Law; he was decorated with Honorary Lawyer merit badge and honored with the highest profession award Themis, the Federal Chamber of Lawyers reminds.