MOSCOW, October 13 (RAPSI) - Vladimir Kekhman, the founder of JFC Group and director of the Mikhailovsky theater, implicated in Sberbank fraud case, has been charged with embezzlement, Vedomosti newspaper reports on Monday.

Kekhman was not detained due to health problems, the newspaper reports, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

JFC Group filed for bankruptcy with a regional commercial court in early 2012.

Creditors sought over 17 billion rubles ($420 million) from Kekhman and the companies under his control as the businessman and several senior executives at JFC Group had guaranteed long-term loans.

London's High Court Of Justice ruled in early October 2012 that Kekhman was bankrupt. The Bank of Moscow failed to reverse the ruling.

Sberbank claimed fraud, and a criminal criminal case was opened in December 2012.

In January 2013, searches were conducted at JFC offices and storage facilities, as well as Kekhman’s office at the Mikhailovsky theater. The businessman was temporarily banned from leaving Russia.

Kekhman, former chief executive officer of JFC Group Andrei Afanasyev, and former chairman of the management board of the company Yulia Zakharova were initially put on witness list in the case.

In July 2012, Moscow's Gagarinsky District Court ordered that Kekhman and two other guarantors pay 6.2 billion rubles to Sberbank. The court seized assets controlled by Kekhman at the request of the bank. Later a business center and a supermarket located in St. Petersburg were sold to repay loans to the bank.