Sheremetyevo Airport customs has confiscated undeclared goods from a party that included flamboyant billionaire Rustam Tariko, two airport officials said Thursday.
A spokesman for Tariko, owner of Russian Standard Bank and Russian Standard vodka, denied that the goods belonged to the businessman.
Rossia state television identified the confiscated goods as four "heavy" boxes of diamonds that had been found in a bag belonging to Tariko's common-law wife, model Yelena Gavrilova. It said the pair had arrived on a flight from London.
Sheremetyevo spokesman Roman Genis said by telephone that Tariko was stopped on Wednesday night by customs officials who "had questions to ask Tariko and his travel companions about undeclared goods." He refused to elaborate.
Sheremetyevo customs spokeswoman Ksenia Grebyonkina told The Moscow Times that the customs officials had confiscated "samples" of the undeclared goods for an expert examination. She refused to identify the goods or say who they belonged to.
Grebyonkina said the examination could take up to two months, as allowed by the law, and a decision on whether to file smuggling charges would be made afterward. Smuggling charges carry a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
Tariko spokesman Preston Mendenhall denied that the businessman had been implicated in any wrongdoing. He said in an e-mailed statement that Tariko "was not carrying any diamonds or valuable items at Sheremetyevo Airport, and he was not detained."
"The story currently being covered by the media has no connection to Rustam Tariko," Mendenhall added.
Separately, Interfax reported Wednesday that Tariko was planning to buy a luxurious villa from U.S. actor George Clooney in Italy. Mendenhall denied the report, which cited Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in an interview with Vesti.ru.
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