Russian convicted fraudster Sergei Mavrodi could be charged with grand debt evasion, a judicial enforcement official said on Tuesday.

The Federal Judicial Enforcement Administration (FJEA) earlier said Mavrodi had only paid 100 rubles out of his 5 billion ruble debt to defrauded investors.

The collapse of Mavrodi's 1990s MMM pyramid scheme cost millions of Russians their life savings. The scam attracted between two and five million investors who lost around $1.5 billion when it collapsed. He served a four-and-a-half-year sentence and was released in May 2007.

FJEA department head Karina Tashchyan said Mavrodi could be jailed for up to two years if found guilty.

She did not explain why such charges had not been brought before or how Mavrodi could realistically be expected to pay 5 billion rubles ($175 million).

MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti)