ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 2 (RAPSI) - Investigators in Russia's Rostov Region have charged the main defendant in a case involving the distribution of fake cancer drugs with creating a criminal group, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.

A representative of the local Interior Ministry department told RIA Novosti that the defendant is also suspected of large-scale fraud and illegal use of a trademark. He is being held in custody.

Of the three other defendants in the case, two have been released under a written pledge not to leave town and the third is being held in custody.

"We are conducting a special examination to determine what substances were sold as cancer drugs and if these substances pose a threat to human health," the ministry's representative said.

The examination, which has never been conducted before, has been entrusted to the Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare.

The regional Interior Ministry department earlier said that the suspects had bought expired medicines in Ukraine and China and delivered them to the Rostov Region, where they repackaged them in containers bearing respected trade names and stamped them with new expiry dates. They did this in their homes and a warehouse.

As a result, expired medicines not designed for cancer patients were sold as expensive medicines that are in short supply.

The fake drugs were sold through healthcare facilities and drugstores in Moscow, Nalchik, and Rostov-on-Don. The police have confiscated over 700,000 containers of fake drugs and packaging equipment. Investigators believe that the group has sold 500 million rubles ($15.2 million) worth of fake cancer drugs and estimate the losses of pharmaceutical companies at over 600 million rubles ($18.3 million).