MOSCOW, July 1 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court has acquitted ex-Director of the Russian Defense Ministry’s state contract audit department Maxim Kuksin of taking 11 million rubles (over $150,000) in bribes, RAPSI has learnt from the court’s press service.

The court has therefore overturned conviction ordered by a lower instance. Kuksin has been found not guilty of the crime and is subject to be rehabilitated.

In December 2019, Moscow’s Kuzminsky District Court sentenced Kuksin to 10 years in a high-security prison and fined him 30 million rubles (over $425,000). The Moscow City Court in July 2020  vacated the ruling and sent the matter back to a lower court for reconsideration. Kuksin was released on travel restrictions.

This March, the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction invalidated the Moscow City Court’s ruling and ordered the case reconsideration in the appeals instance.

According to investigators, Kuksin has received at least 11 million rubles in bribes. The case was based on witness testimony given by Yury Yefimov, the chief of the second military economic costing department of the Defense Ministry, who gave large sum money to the defendant. Kuksin pleaded not guilty.