MOSCOW, May 17 - RAPSI. The Moscow's Tverskoy District Court has turned down the appeal filed by former department head at the Moscow Regional Prosecutor's Office Dmitry Urumov, currently under investigation in a high-profile "gambling case", the Prosecutor Generals Office reports on Thursday.

Urumov sought to invalidate the decision denying him the opportunity to enter into a plea bargain.

A plea bargain would grant the suspect, in exchange for cooperation, a simplified case handling procedure, i.e. without any evidence examination or witness interrogation. The punishment in this case should not exceed two thirds of the maximum possible sentence.

The refusal is motivated by a number of breaches in the procedure for forming a plea bargain. In particular, prosecutors stressed that Urumov failed to plead guilty to all charges and has not indicated the place and time of the crime on which he intended to testify.

Businessman Ivan Nazarov has been charged with operating illegal casinos in 15 towns across the Moscow Region. According to law enforcement authorities, several high-ranking officials of regional prosecutor's offices and the Interior Ministry were involved in the casino operation, which generated between $5 million and $10 million in revenue monthly.