MOSCOW, August 27 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Region Commercial Court has declared on Wednesday illegal the sale of a land plot near the village of Nakhabino owned by Defense Ministry, the judgment reads.

The deal between the Defense Ministry and Partner Capital company over 45.4 hectares (112 acres) of land made on June 1, 2012, has been annulled.

The court ruled that the disputed land plot should be returned to the Defense Ministry, which must pay back 739 million rubles ($20.5 million).

The suit was filed after military prosecutors claimed that three forested land plots in the Moscow Region with a total area of over 144 hectares (356 acres) had been sold in violation of law as they were not for sale.

Defense Ministry’s Property Department, which was headed by Yevgenia Vasilyeva, a key suspect in the Oboronservis fraud case, was working on the deal, according to prosecutors. They say the deal has caused 58 billion rubles ($160.5 million) in damage and losses.

Vasilyeva was charged in a fraud case over the sale of land and other property owned by the Defense Ministry, including shares of the subsidiaries of the state-run Oboronservis holding company. Damage from her actions has been estimated at over 3 billion rubles ($88 million). She faces up to six years in prison if convicted.