MOSCOW, March 23 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court upheld embezzlement charges against billionaire Gleb Fetisov rejecting an appeal which had been filed by his lawyer Pavel Zaitsev, RAPSI reported on Monday from the courtroom.

Zaitsev alleges that the criminal case against Fetisov is falsified.

Investigators during the pretrial hearing claimed that they acted in compliance with the legal procedure. The action against Fetisov was brought at the request of the Central Bank, which carried out a thorough review of Moi Bank's books, according to investigators.

Fetisov, who used to be the country's 55th richest person in the Forbes magazine ranking, was accused of embezzling funds from Moi Bank and arrested in late February 2014.

The Central Bank claimed that Moi Bank failed to honor its credit obligations and revoked its license in January 2014.

The Central Bank also filed a request with the Investigative Committee asking to examine business activities of Fetisov and a number of former managers of the bank.

The request of the Central Bank mentioned loan agreements that Moi Bank had signed over the past three years with apparent dummy companies, as well as potentially irretrievable investments in assets and securities.

Fetisov, who pleaded not guilty, has paid the Deposit Insurance Agency over 14 billion rubles ($235 million). He claims this is enough to repay the debts to the bank’s clients.