MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - The probe into the case of former Moscow region deputy prosecutor Alexander Ignatenko has been extended until February 28, according to his lawyer.
"The case file contains a resolution, which extends the preliminary investigation period until February 28, 2014," lawyer Alexander Asnis told Interfax.
The lawyer could not say what stage the investigation had reached by this time.
"There have been no investigative procedures regarding my client since last June," Asnis said.
Ignatenko is a suspect in the case of illegal casinos operating in the Moscow region under the protection of prosecutors. He was accused of taking more than 48 million rubles in bribes from the illegal business organizers and a two-million-ruble land fraud.
The Moscow Basmanny District Court ordered the arrest of Ignatenko in absentia in July 2011, and he was put on the international wanted list in November.
Ignatenko was apprehended in the Polish alpine resort of Zakopane on January 2, 2012, and kept under arrest until his extradition to Moscow on February 7, 2013.
He was questioned on February 8 and charged with taking a bribe (Article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code). The lawyer said the land fraud charges were dropped by demand of Poland, which made it a condition of the suspect's extradition to Russia.
The Moscow City Court extended the arrest of Ignatenko until July 1. A new charge was brought against him on February 25.
It was announced on June 18 that the Prosecutor General's Office had returned the Ignatenko case to the Russian Investigative Committee for an additional inquiry. The Prosecutor General's Office said it was necessary "to eliminate the uncovered violations."
Later on Ignatenko was released from custody upon the expiry of the maximum custody period.