MOSCOW, December 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Supreme Court has agreed to launch criminal proceedings in absentia against former senator Levon Chakhmakhchyan, currently in hospital, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Friday.
The court accepted fraud charges against Chakhmakhchyan filed by the Prosecutor General's Office.
Chakhmakhchyan was dismissed from his post as deputy head of the Federation Council's committee for self-government after being caught up in a bribery scandal. However, the former senator was immune from prosecution, and was not arrested.
In a sting operation in June, FSB operatives found $300,000 in cash, which had been previously marked with special ink, in the office of the chief accountant of the Association of Russian-Armenian Business, of which Chakhmakhchyan was vice president. The FSB alleged that the funds had been taken as bribe money.
Prosecutors say Chakhmakhchyan formed an organized crime group to extort funds from companies including air carrier Transaero.
Boris Kuznetsov, a lawyer for Chakhmakhchyan, said two suspects in the case had so far been arrested. However, he said his client dismisses all accusations as "absolute nonsense."
The lawyer also said he intended to appeal the Supreme Court's decision to start criminal proceedings against his client.
"I will appeal, so today's decision will not come into force, and the Prosecutor General's Office will not be able to obtain an arrest warrant for my client," the lawyer said.
When the scandal broke out in June, several MPs questioned the legality of measures against Chakhmakhchyan and asked for a special investigation into the case; however, 136 senators in parliament's upper house voted for Chakhmakhchyan's dismissal.
Following a call from President Vladimir Putin in May for stronger anti-corruption measures, several senior officials in the customs and security services have been sacked.
