NOVOSIBIRSK, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Ministry officials in West Siberia are following the case of a local resident arrested in Los Angeles on tax-fraud conspiracy charges, an attache said on Monday.

The San Diego Union Tribune said on Saturday that Novosibirsk resident Maxim Maltsev, 23, had been arrested and accused of conspiring to divert 65 income-tax-refund payments intended for U.S. citizens to accounts he had set up at four San Diego banks.

"The Russian Embassy in the United States is dealing with the issue. The Russian Foreign Ministry's office in Novosibirsk is keeping its eye on the situation and will get involved if the need arises," Denis Borodich said.

He added that no inquiries had yet been received either from the Russian Embassy in the United States or from the Moscow headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to the indictment, Maltsev and co-conspirators diverted income-tax refunds through online services "falsely advertised as being affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service."

The refunds "withdrawn by debit and check cards and at ATMs in the United States and overseas" totaled about $105,000, the paper quoted U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt of San Diego as saying.

Maltsev has been held without bail in Los Angeles since he was arrested at the city's international airport last Wednesday.