MOSCOW, July 29 (RAPSI) - Former chief of Rusnano (formerly Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies) Leonid Melamed, former Rusnano financial director Svyatoslav Ponurov have been charged with embezzlement, spokesperson for the Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin told journalists on Wednesday.

The Investigative Committee is also probing Melamed’s and Ponurov’s involvement in other crimes, he said.

The spokesman reported that investigators are cooperating closely with the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) and Interpol in order to obtain information on siphoning funds abroad, as well as on possible involvement in other crimes by the suspects. Also, after the report on the investigation was published, several witnesses addressed the Investigative Committee with evidence of other offenses by the defendants.

The Investigative Committee claims that Melamed transferred 220 million rubles (about $3.7 million) worth of budget funding, allotted to Rusnanotech, to Alemar Co., which he controlled, in violation of the law. Former top Rusnanotech managers Andrey Malyshev and Svyatoslav Ponurov are also involved in the case. The suspects are pleading not guilty.

Melamed is being held under house arrest until September 1, and Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has ordered the detention of Ponurov.

In 2008, when the deal was being closed, Anatoly Chubais had already replaced Melamed, corporate sources said. They added that Melamed had not inflicted any losses on the company and promised to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

Earlier, Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov said the buzz around this case would negatively affect the national business climate and the investigation itself.