My profile:
The former head of a fund supporting Afghan war invalids is a prime suspect in the killing of his successor at the organization, police said Friday.
"According to preliminary estimates police suspect that Valery Radchikov is involved in the murder" of Mikhail Likhodey on Thursday, said Igor Zyrulnikov, a spokesman for Moscow police. It is rare for police to identify a suspect so soon after a capital crime is committed.
Radchikov, a colonel of the Main Intelligence Department, headed the fund from May 1991 to August 1993 until he was replaced by Likhodey.
Fund authorities also said they suspected that Radchikov was involved. Neither police nor fund officials could give the whereabouts of the suspect.
Zyrulnikov said both men had served in Afghanistan during the war and had become invalids as a result.
The police official said Likhodey, 42, and his bodyguard, Valery Nurin, were killed when a bomb exploded on the first floor of Likhodey's house in southern Moscow.
Zyrulnikov said Likhodey's wife, Yelena Krasnolutskaya, and a second bodyguard had received minor wounds.
Gennady Safronov, head of the fund's inspection committee, said in a phone interview with The Moscow Times that fund officials also "suspect" that Radchikov planned and carried out the bomb attack with the help of friends.
"We know that Radchikov was involved in illegal financial deals with different commercial companies when he was head of the fund," Safronov said.
Safronov said the fund is exempt from taxes, sometimes resulting in the involvement of "unscrupulous" companies. He added that Radchikov negotiated agreements with companies valued at $800 million, and that inspections showed $80 million was missing.
The fund said in a statement that after Likhodey replaced Radchikov, the new leader had started "a decisive fight" against "lawlessness, corruption and embezzlement" within the organization.
Safronov said they had appealed to the Interior Ministry, the Federal Counterintelligence Service, the Military Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Court to investigate the alleged deals.
|
|
Tweet |
|
This article has no comments. Be the first to leave a comment |
Discussion
Comments
To post comments you must be registered
Comments via Facebook
Most Read
1.
McFaul Faces Kremlin Scorn Once Again
The Foreign Ministry assailed U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul for comments the ministry said went "far beyond the bounds of diplomatic etiquette."
2.
Radio Journalist Stabbed Outside Apartment Building
A journalist for Mayak radio was clinging to life Tuesday after being stabbed outside his apartment building by an unknown attacker.
3.
Berezovsky Investigated for Inciting 'Mass Disorder'
The Investigative Committee has opened an inquiry against self-exiled businessman Boris Berezovsky, who recently pledged a $1.5 million bounty for the arrest of Vladimir Putin.
4.
Chernobyl Horror Film Called Disrespectful, A Joke
Horror film "Chernobyl Diaries," with its ghostly tale of terror near the infamous, abandoned nuclear plant hits theaters after protests that it sensationalizes a disaster that had tragic human consequences.
5.
Suspect Detained in Killing of Furniture Magnate
An alleged organizer of a murder of Russian furniture magnate Mikhail Kravchenko has been detained in the Moscow region.
6.
$13.4Bln Football Bill Puts Ukraine in the Hole
Ukraine may never recover all of the billions of dollars it has spent to co-host next month's European football championship, and the outlay might complicate its chances of servicing its debt.
7.
The Nixon Option for Iran
Boldness of the sort displayed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in opening discussions with China is needed now in the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
8.
Ukraine's Behavior in WTO Has Negotiators Scratching Their Heads
Laos, a small nation dependent on aid and rice farming, wants to join the World Trade Organization. WTO powers including the United States, China and the European Union want it to.
9.
Rockets to Disperse Euro Rain Clouds
Ukraine is planning to fire rockets to break up rain clouds if bad weather threatens to upset football matches during next month's Euro 2012 tournament.
10.
Top Cop Demands Duma Deputy be Punished for Reaction to Raid
Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has called on the State Duma to reprimand opposition Deputy Gennady Gudkov, claiming that he threatened police officers who were conducting an investigation into his security company.
1.
Tabloid: Superjet Downed by U.S. Industrial Sabotage
A tabloid claims that Russian intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility that the U.S. military may have brought down the Sukhoi Superjet that crashed in Indonesia.
2.
Red Square Flyboy Regrets Air Stunt
When Mathias Rust landed his white Cessna on Red Square on May 28, 1987, he had placed all his hopes for world peace in Mikhail Gorbachev.
3.
Sweden Wins Eurovision; Grannies Take Second
Sweden’s Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan on Sunday before an international TV audience of 100 million, days after angering Azeri authorities by meeting rights activists critical of the host country’s human rights record.
4.
Village Grannies Make It to Eurovision Finals
Russia's group Buranovskiye Babushki has made it into the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, bringing the elderly folk singers from a far-off Russian village to the attention of more than 100 million viewers around the world.
5.
Protest and Chaos Seen in Kudrin-Ordered Study
Continued protests in Russia will likely lead to violence or chaotic change, according to a new study ordered by the former finance minister.
6.
McFaul Faces Kremlin Scorn Once Again
The Foreign Ministry assailed U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul for comments the ministry said went "far beyond the bounds of diplomatic etiquette."
7.
Ukraine in Uproar Over Status of Russian Language
Ukraine's ruling party has triggered violent protests with a move to upgrade the official role of Russian, a sensitive issue opponents say will split the country.
8.
150 Detained at Anti-Kremlin Rallies
About 150 people were detained Sunday as scores of people gathered for a series of anti-government demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
9.
Tensions Rise as Opposition Leaders are Freed
Sergei Udaltsov and Alexei Navalny emerged from prison Thursday, while a dramatic standoff erupted at a State Duma hearing over a bill that would hike fines for illegal demonstrations.
10.
More Public Figures Accused of Flouting Road Rules
Following the president's order to cut the number of officials entitled to use flashing lights to skirt through traffic, several incidents of alleged abuse involving high-profile figures have come to light.
1.
Hundreds of Arrests Set Grim Backdrop for Victory Day Celebrations
As Moscow gears up to celebrate its victory in World War II, 67 years ago Wednesday, the shadow of political conflict shrouds the capital as hundreds of arrests cloud Victory Day festivities.
2.
Russian Satellite Takes Highest-Ever Resolution Picture of Earth
A stunning 121-megapixel snapshot of the Earth was taken by a Russian weather satellite in what is thought to be the highest resolution picture of the planet ever taken from space.
3.
Bodies, No Survivors Spotted at Superjet Crash
Search and rescue helicopters and volunteers struggling through thick forest and mountainous terrain spotted bodies but no survivors on the Indonesian mountainside where a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed by the time darkness forced an end to the search Thursday night.
4.
Mysterious Photos Reveal an Unseen WWII
After the end of World War II, Paul Sadler returned home to Chicago with three German books and a photo album from the Dachau concentration camp.
5.
Tabloid: Superjet Downed by U.S. Industrial Sabotage
A tabloid claims that Russian intelligence agencies are investigating the possibility that the U.S. military may have brought down the Sukhoi Superjet that crashed in Indonesia.
6.
Furniture Magnate Shot Dead in Mercedes in Moscow Region
A 46-year-old furniture magnate was killed with six gunshot wounds to the head and chest early Sunday as he arrived in his Mercedes at his home in the Moscow region.
7.
Vladivostok Bridge Climbers Fined 300 Rubles Each
Three thrill-seekers who climbed two Vladivostok bridges earlier this week and took photos from the top were fined 300 rubles ($10) each for trespassing.
8.
New Cabinet Has Familiar Cast of Characters
President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced the makeup of the new Cabinet answering to Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, with three-fourths of the members having been replaced.
9.
Superjet Missing in Indonesia With 50 on Board
A dark cloud was cast Wednesday on the revival of Russia’s aviation industry when a Sukhoi-built Superjet 100 with 50 people on board disappeared from the radar screens of Indonesian flight controllers.
10.
Why Putin's Days Are Numbered
On Monday, Vladimir Putin will take the presidential oath of office for the third time. After 12 years in power, Putin has increased his control over the country's major institutions, the siloviki and state bureaucracy.
