A third criminal case may be opened against former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partner, Platon Lebedev, a witness in the second trial said Monday.
Former Menatep employee Nadezhda Shek was testifying in Moscow’s Khamovnichesky District Court. Her remarks were carried in a transcript on Khodorkovsky and Lebedev’s press center web site.
After prosecutors asked their questions, Khodorkovsky declined to cross examine her, saying he saw no point in questioning “couriers and secretaries,” according to the web site.
Lebedev, however, asked her how many times and when she had been questioned.
“In 2000, in the winter, I was interrogated at home, two investigators came … then recently an investigator called me in, she said something about another case,” Shek said.
“On Wednesday, they told me that the questioning was for another case,” she said. “They told me that several cases had been opened against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev. And that they were questioning me over another case. They made me sign a nondisclosure agreement. I don’t know what I can say.”
Khodorkovsky’s lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, said investigators announced in 2008 that they had concluded their investigation. “Nonetheless, they’ve continued to submit additional evidence. That’s what led us to suspect that they were conducting a parallel, secret investigation,” he said.
The Investigative Committee said it had no comment. A law enforcement source said no new case had been opened, but that there were about 20 cases related to Yukos under investigation.
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