Austria Extradites to Russia Former Official Mazo Accused of Embezzlement, Moscow Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Austria has extradited to Russia Boris Mazo, former head of the Russian Ministry of Culture's department of estate management, who was accused of embezzling more than $11.8 million during the reconstruction of the Hermitage Museum in the city of St. Petersburg, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.

In February, a court in Vienna rejected a complaint by Mazo's defence team against a lower court's decision to extradite the former official to Russia.

"Thanks to a large volume of work done, close cooperation with Austrian colleagues, as well as the Russian Prosecutor General's Office quickly providing additional information and materials requested by the Austrian side, we have managed to get the final decision on extraditing Mazo to Russia", the office said in a statement.