MOSCOW, August 31 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) – Investigators have put Oleg Senkevich, charged with embezzling 490 million rubles ($7.5 million) allocated for Russia’s state border infrastructure development, on the wanted list, Yuliya Bocharova, spokesperson for the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow, told RAPSI on Wednesday.

Senkevich did not appear in court; the case against him was severed and shelved because of his search, Bocharova added.

During investigation Senkevich has been released on condition not to leave the city. However, he failed to attend preliminary hearings twice.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia reported that five individuals, including Senkevich, Danila Vavilov, Sergei Kozlenkov, Sergei Sazonov and Boris Khaitovich, as well as several managers of commercial firms would stand trial in the case. Depending on their role, they were charged with membership in a criminal gang, embezzlement and money laundering, the statement reads.

According to investigators, former Federal Border Development Agency’s head Dmitry Bezdelov has conspired with Senkevich and others to embezzle public funds allocated for the construction of checkpoints on the state border. From September 2009 to May 2013, they stole and laundered budget funds valued at 490 million rubles.

Investigation into Bezdelov, extradited from Italy in the spring of 2016, is underway.

Bezdelov resigned from his post in October 2013 after a probe revealed inappropriate use of budget funds by the agency. He was arrested in Rome in October 2014 after he had been put on the international wanted list. Italy's court of appeals upheld the decision to extradite Bezdelov to Russia in October 2015. The Supreme Court has left the judgment intact.