MOSCOW, April 13 (RAPSI) – Ivan Bibinov, former deputy chairman of the board of the Bank of East European Finance Corporation (EEFC), will stand trial for abetting fraud committed by banker Alexander Gitelson, the Investigative Committee announced on Monday.

“According to investigators, Gitelson, former board chairman of EEFC Bank and Inkasbank, acting with Bibinov’s assistance, embezzled funds from EEFC  Bank from March 2007 to October 2008 through alleged loans to the companies he controlled. The heads of these companies only held nominal positions at them,” the statement says.

Investigators have concluded that Gitelson embezzled over 20.8 billion rubles ($406.4 million) from Bank EEFC with Bibinov’s aid.

“Investigators have sent a request to Austria, from which Gitelson has been extradited on fraud charges, seeking permission to bring charges against him under this crime,” the statement says.

Gitelson was arrested in Austria in April 2013 and extradited to Russia in December.

In March, Gitelson was convicted and sentenced for embezzling over 2 billion rubles (about $39 million) in public funds from Inkasbank. A court in St. Petersburg also fined the banker 500,000 rubles (about $10,000).

In April 2011, Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court sentenced Gitelson in absentia to five years in prison and a 1 million ruble ($19,600) fine for embezzling 495 million rubles ($9.7 million) from his acquaintance MP Adnan Muzykayev.