Moscow, April 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A group of masked men tied up a businessman in an office here and took off with a safe containing cash worth 15 million rubles ($515,000), police said Thursday.

The men broke into the office near Taganskaya subway station at about 8 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) Wednesday, tied up the businessman and demanded that the safe be opened. When he refused, the thieves took the safe and fled the scene, they said.

The businessman managed to untie himself around midnight and immediately called police.

'He said there were 15 million rubles in the safe,' police said.