Charges of large-scale fraud were laid against a Russian lawmaker, who was stripped of immunity earlier this week, Russia's Investigative Committee said on its website.
Ashot Yegiazaryan, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), "is suspected of committing a crime which falls under the part four of article 159 of Russia's Criminal Code, or large-scale fraud," the committee said in a statement.
Yegiazaryan is accused of embezzling more than 500 million rubles ($16.2 million) provided by his friend for the construction of a trade center in Moscow and the renovation of the Moskva Hotel adjacent to Red Square. Investigators say Yegiazaryan proposed Mikhail Ananyev in 2003 to invest in the facilities in exchange for stakes in them.
He is also believed to have fraudulently acquired the right to 20 percent of shares worth over 1.5 billion rubles ($48.7 million) in a joint stock company that runs a Moscow trade and recreation complex.
On Wednesday a total of 352 lawmakers of the State Duma voted to support a request by Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika. Thirty-nine deputies, all LDPR members, were against and five abstained from the vote.
This is the fourth time since the collapse of the Soviet Union when the State Duma stripped a lawmaker of his immunity.
MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti)