Court turns down to release on bail Bazhanov and arrests him

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow arrested former Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexei Bazhanov, who is suspected in the criminal case over embezzlement of 1.1 billion roubles from the Russian state-run leasing company Rosagroleasing. The court turned down to release him on a bail of 50 million roubles. According to the version of the detectives, a massive embezzlement was committed by an organized criminal group headed by Bazhanov in 2008-2009 in the way of concluding false leasing contracts for the supplies of the equipment for the production of refined sunflower oil to the under-controlled agrarian enterprises. The law enforcement agencies believe that the budget resources were transferred to the bank accounts of the affiliated organizations, including CJSC Group of Companies “Masloprodukt”, and were cashed.