MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI) - Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court has acquitted Sergey Yuryev, the president of Moscow's bar association Mezhregion, of embezzling 1 billion rubles (about $17 million at the current exchange rate) from the State Air Traffic Management Corporation (ATM), RAPSI has learnt from the court’s press service.

The court also acquitted ex-head of the legal directorate of the Federal Air Transport Agency Vladimir Mnishko and ex-attorney Vadim Evkin, who were also involved in the case.

Investigators claimed that in 2008, the State ATM Corporation signed a contract for legal services with one of the bar associations. The bar chairman working connections in 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 contract overpricing resulted in unjust receipt of more than 1 billion rubles by the bar association from 2008 to 2018, investigators stated.

Yuryev pled not guilty. 

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 said. One of the lawyer’s bail bondsmen was Chair of the Federal Chamber of Lawyer Yury Pilipenko.