Elena Basner was released on a recognizance not to leave

The court in St. Petersburg decided to release from the house arrest of art critic Elena Basner, who accused of fraud, letting her go on a recognizance not to leave.

“The Dzerzhinsky District Court of the city on Friday changed the preventive measure for Elena Basner from the house arrest for a recognizance not to leave,” lawyer Larisa Malkova told Interfax .

A year ago, on January 31, 2014, an art history candidate Elena Basner was detained on suspicion that in 2009 she gave a false expert opinion on the authenticity of the picture of Boris Grigoryev, who was later sold for $ 250 thousand.

On February 4, Basner was officially charged under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud on an especially large scale”), the next day the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg placed it under house arrest.

In December, the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee in St. Petersburg announced the completion of the investigation and transfer of materials to the prosecutor's office, TASS reports . In January, the department approved the indictment.

Elena Basner's colleagues do not admit that she can be involved in fraud. The director of the Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky and even the collector Andrei Vasiliev, who bought a fake picture, opposed the arrest of the art critic.