MOSCOW, April 27 (RAPSI) – Moscow's Nikulinsky District Court sentenced Viktor Meshchenkov, director of a British Virgin Islands-based company, to three years in prison for attempted theft of 1.28 billion rubles ($25 million) from a research center affiliated with state-owned defense and technology holding Rostec, RIA Novosti reported on Monday.

Meshchenkov was arrested last May. He was accused of forging a promissory note dated February 8, 2012 that said the research center owed the BVI-registered company under his control 1.28 billion rubles.

Later, the he evidently found a notary who assisted him in creating a payment request for the research center. After the research center refused to pay, the notary prepared a deed of protest to take the dispute to court.