MOSCOW, September 20 - RAPSI. Pursuant to the president's instructions, the Prosecutor General's Office will head criminal cases investigated in the housing and utilities sphere, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said investigations will be supervised into criminal cases on violations committed while using funds for the housing and utilities sphere as well as other violations committed during procedural checks.

Marian Gridneva, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's Office, said over 500 materials to prosecute the guilty parties have been sent to the investigative authorities after careful review.

Over 250 criminal cases have been initiated. They primarily concern embezzlement, abuse of power and bribes.

Some 45 criminal cases are pending in the Interior Ministry's and the Investigative Committee's investigative bodies.

Many crimes take place in this sphere, Gridneva said. They mostly concern the embezzlement of funds using shady firms and sham documents and the non-execution of investment programs.