MOSCOW, September 6 (RAPSI) – Ashot Yegiazaryan, a Russian ex-lawmaker accused of fraud, will be sentenced in absentia after the US Justice Department refused to extradite him, Izvestia reports Friday.

Yegiazaryan was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in Russia. He is under investigation on fraud charges and faces 10 years in prison. He has been on a federal wanted list since November 2010 and on the international wanted list since late December. The State Duma (Russian parliament's lower house) consented to his arrest in March 2011.

Russian investigators believe that Yegiazaryan and three accomplices fraudulently purchased 20 percent of Centurion Alliance's shares, valued at 1.57 billion rubles ($50.45 million).

A criminal case on fraud charges has been initiated against Yegiazaryan.