MOSCOW, July 29 (RAPSI) – Ex-CEO of the Russian Authors’ Society (RAO) Sergey Fedotov on Wednesday was found guilty of the 762 million-ruble (over $10.5 million at the current exchange rate) embezzlement and received 5 years in penal colony, RAPSI reported from the Presnensky District Court of Moscow.

The court also convicted and sentenced his mother and ex-deputy director of the organization Vera Fedotova to a 4-year suspended term. Ex-Society's employee Anzhela Ageikina and ex-CEO of the Service Operation Company Svetlana Temesheva also received a 5-year suspended sentence each. Temesheva's husband Volodiy Nazgashvili was given a 3-year suspended sentence.

On Tuesday a prosecutor demanded 5.5 years in jail for Fedotov and 4.5 years behind bars for other defendants.

Investigators claimed that the defendants had transferred the authors’ royalty payments to the fake accounts and then cashed the money. 

The trial was held under a special procedure, without examining evidence, as the defendant had pleaded guilty. Fedotov also admitted embezzlement of 12 million rubles during payment of legal services that had not been provided to the Society.

In December 2018, Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court ordered the accused persons to be placed in detention. Investigators believe that they transferred the authors’ royalty payments to the fake accounts and then cashed the money.

In June 2017, Fedotov was convicted in his first embezzlement case and sentenced to 1.5 years behind bars.

As previously reported, employees of the Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) have revealed a fraud scheme over illegal alienation of RAO’s property. Damage caused to the RAO’s property has been estimated at 500 million rubles (over $7 million at the current exchange rate). The defendant pleaded guilty.

In December 2017, he was released on parole.