A Moscow court upheld on Tuesday the opening of a criminal probe against Anatoly Ballo, deputy chairman of the country's national development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), charged with a $14-million fraud scheme.
The ruling was passed by Judge Alexandra Kovalevskaya who turned down Ballo’s appeal.
According to investigators, Ballo and unnamed accomplices stole $14 million as part of a loan granted to the Evraziisky firm to buy 100 percent of Yugvodokanal on September 24, 2008. The investigators believe the money was transferred to offshore companies' accounts in Swiss banks.
Ballo was detained but later released on bail of five million rubles ($168,500).
