The Krasnogorsk Court of the Moscow Region sentenced former Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov to 8 years and 6 months in prison for embezzlement of budget funds.

“A sentence of 8 years and 6 months in prison in a strict regime correctional colony and a fine of 1.5 million rubles was imposed,” Pirumov’s lawyer Fyodor Kupriyanov said, Kommersant reports . The lawyer noted that the defense does not agree with the verdict and intends to appeal it.

The case against the former Deputy Minister of Culture Grigory Pirumov was initiated in 2019, he was accused of laundering about 800 million rubles stolen during the construction of new Hermitage facilities.

According to investigators, the funds were legalized by Pirumov and his accomplices through "fictitious financial transactions in organizations controlled by him" from July 2015 to March 2016.

There are several other accused in the case. Nikita Kolesnikov, ex-head of the Rospan group of companies, received 8 years in prison in a strict regime colony and a fine of 1.5 million rubles. Oleg Grivor received 7 years probation and a fine of 1.2 million rubles, Vasily Rogov and Yury Begeze received 6 years probation and a fine of 500 thousand rubles.

The court found them guilty under Art. 159 (“Fraud”), 174 (“Money laundering”) and 210 (“creating or participating in an organized criminal group”). The defendants pleaded not guilty.

In 2017, Pirumov was sentenced to one and a half years in prison in the case of embezzlement of more than 100 million rubles during the restoration of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow and other objects.