Igor Reshetin is charged with transferring precision engineering technology to a Chinese corporation in violation of state export controls, and of diverting 30 million rubles ($1.14 million) through schemes involving front companies.
Reshetin's defense earlier appealed to the Supreme Court to release him from custody as it believed that he would not influence the investigation.
Due to the seriousness of the charges and attempts to pressure the sides involved in the criminal proceedings, the Lefortovo District Court ruled in November 2005 to arrest Reshetin, along with his two deputies, Sergei Tverdokhlebov and Alexander Rozhkin. The prosecution claimed that Reshetin might be able to hinder the investigation, influence witnesses and continue his criminal activities.
"The investigation is over and we are completing our defense case. The hearings will begin in April," Anatoly Yablokov, a lawyer for Reshetin, said adding that "the court has refused our appeal."
The firm run by Reshetin, Tsniimash-Export is part of Russia's Central Research Institute for Machine Building and is one of the main research centers in the Russian space sector.
Founded in 1991, Tsniimash-Export has implemented more than 120 contracts for aerospace companies and firms in the U.S., China, and several other countries. The company was licensed by the Russian Federal Aerospace Agency in 1996 to work in the space industry, and has had official accreditation as a scientific company since 2001.
Analysts say Russian technology may have formed the basis of China's manned space program, with two successful orbital missions carried out to date.
