MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) – Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the board chairman of Russia’s holding company AFK Sistema, has been permitted to attend his office, despite being placed under house arrest earlier, RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing his attorney Vladimir Kozin.

Yevtushenkov, one of Russia’s richest persons, needs to get an approval of the investigative authorities each time he wants to leave his mansion in the Moscow suburbs, Kozin is quoted as having said.

He didn’t say whether the general conditions of the house arrest were softened or if Yevtushenkov was allowed to make phone calls.

The investigators earlier in court pressed for more strict conditions of Yevtushenkov’s house arrest.

Yevtushenkov, who pleaded not guilty, had been charged with money laundering in connection with the company’s acquisition of shares in the oil company Bashneft in 2009.

The court ruled that he be placed under house arrest until November 16.

AFK Sistema said the charges were unfounded and that it would use all available legal options to settle the conflict.

Ural Rakhimov, son of former Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov, is implicated in the case.