Russian justice on Thursday sentenced a former minister, who is considered close to ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, to 12 years in prison for embezzling funds and using his former positions to create a “criminal group”, reports AFP.

The Moscow court that tried him announced that it had “found Mykhailo Abyzov guilty,” according to the verdict, which was quoted by Russian press agencies.

According to the verdict, the former minister was sentenced to “12 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony”, as well as a fine of 80 million rubles (almost 800 thousand euros at the current exchange rate).

One of his lawyers, Artur Bolchakov, quoted by the TASS news agency, said that his client needed time before deciding whether or not to file an appeal.

According to the investigation, from 2011 to 2014, with the help of five other entrepreneurs and managers in the energy sector, Mykhailo Abyzov embezzled amounts exceeding four billion rubles (approximately 55 million euros at the exchange rate of 2019).

51-year-old Mykhailo Abizov was also charged with creating a “criminal group”.

Abyzov, who lived between Italy and the United States, was detained in early 2019 during an operation by the Russian special services (FSB) during a visit to the Russian capital.

Minister for Civil Society Affairs from 2012 to 2018, in 2014 he was the highest paid member of the government with 282 million rubles (€5.7 million in 2019 exchange rates) per year.

Before his arrest, he was considered close to former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who appointed him to the post in 2012, and a member of the “liberal” wing of Russia’s ruling elite, which often clashes with a rival clan. security forces” (police, army, special services…).