The Prosecutor General’s Office has canceled the Interior Ministry’s decision to close a criminal case against the former head of Moscow's subway, Dmitry Gayev, Office spokeswoman Marina Gridneva said on Wednesday.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation has established that the order to discontinue the case is illegal,” Gridneva told journalists, adding that the case will be reinvestigated.
The Interior Ministry's investigation department said on Monday that charges of financial wrongdoing against Gayev have been dropped.
Gayev, who managed the Moscow rapid transit system for more than 15 years, was accused of illegally diverting 112 million rubles ($4 million) in public funds. He resigned in 2011 after allegations of fraud and embezzlement came to light.
Gayev had been accused of illegally patenting the electronic subway tickets used today that replaced tokens in 1999 and receiving 112 million rubles in patent proceeds over the following 11 years.
But the ministry's investigation department said an inquiry established that Gayev legally patented the new type of ticket.
Gayev’s lawyer Ruben Markaryan told the RAPSI/rapsinews.ru news agency that the Prosecutor General’s Office’s decision was surprising as the case had been closed over conflicting viewpoints of experts, which were “interpreted in favor of Gayev, in line with the presumption of innocence principle.”
“The cancellation of the order to close the criminal case by the Prosecutor General’s Office means a departure from this principle,” Markaryan said.
