Moscow drops fraud case against ex-Metro head

A major fraud case against the former boss of the Moscow Metro's has been dropped. Moscow authorities suspect Dmitry Gaev of abuse of power during his 15-year reign over the underground. They said he had exploited his position for personal gain at a cost of nearly $4 million to the city. Gaev allegedly patented the system involving the use of electronic ticketing machines and then sold the rights for the invention to the Metro, thus receiving a considerable sum as a reward.  A thorough investigation, however, showed that Gaev had every legal right to register all the patents. Gaev resigned from his post in February 2011, following claims that many costly violations had occurred on his watch.  The Audit Chamber claimed that new metro stations could have been constructed much faster and more cheaply if Gaev had analyzed the situation more carefully. He was also blamed for the over-pricing of metro rates. Gaev was head of the Moscow Metro since 1995. He had previously been employed as the first deputy to the then-head of the metro, an official who was close to Yury Luzhkov, who was mayor of Moscow at that time. Gaev is currently abroad undergoing medical treatment.  Moscow Metro is said to be on the right track in terms of helping to sort out the overloaded city transportation system. Almost half of the city's car owners spend up to three hours sitting in traffic every day, while those using public transport spend less than half of that.