MOSCOW, July 17 (RAPSI) – The Basmanny District Court in Moscow has ordered the house arrest until September 16 of Alexander Ostroverkh, department head at the Russian State Technological University (MATI), who stands charged with embezzlement at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, one of the country's leading space enterprises, the court’s press secretary, Anna Fadeyeva, told RAPSI on Friday.

Vladimir Nesterov, former director general of the space center, has also been charged with embezzlement.

Investigators believe that Nesterov created a criminal group to embezzle government funds at the center in 2007. It included Mikhail Yakushin, the center’s chief accountant, Dmitry Dyakonov, head of the Ekopravo economic and legal consultancy, and several other unidentified persons.

Their actions are alleged to have caused substantial material damage to the Khrunichev center.

The court approved an extension of the investigation until October 25.

The Basmanny court previously placed Yakushin and Dyakonov on house arrest, both of whom plead not guilty.

According to media reports, Dyakonov allegedly signed an audit and legal services agreement with Alexander Ostroverkh, deputy director general of the Khrunichev center, for a monthly fee of 22,000 euros plus 5 percent of the total amount of fee for the services Ekopravo supposedly provided to the space center from September 2007 to February 2014, including the center’s audits until 2011.

In all, Ekopravo received over 285 million rubles ($5mln) from the Khrunichev center.