A former senator has been detained in Moscow on suspicion that he sexually assaulted at least two young women, one of whom claims that he lured her into his posh Lexus sedan for a quick ride, news reports said Wednesday.
Igor Provkin, 43, who represented the Kalmykia republic in the Federation Council from 2001 to 2004, was detained last Thursday and faces up to 20 years behind bars if charged and convicted of rape, RIA-Novosti reported.
Provkin, a father of five who serves as chairman of PV-Bank, has denied wrongdoing.
A spokeswoman for the Zamoskvoretsky District Court, which sanctioned Provkin's detention, confirmed to The Moscow Times that he was in custody.
The case was opened in July on the complaint of a 23-year-old Moscow student, the spokeswoman said.
The student told investigators that a man offered her a ride on June 30 but raped her in the car after beating her into submission, the tabloid Lifenews.ru reported, adding that the man also asked for her telephone number after the attack. The report said the girl was 24.
Investigators linked Provkin to the incident because he allowed the woman to make a call to her brother from his phone before the attack, RIA-Novosti said.
Provkin is also accused of sexually assaulting a young woman on Aug. 3, an Investigative Committee spokesman told RIA-Novosti, without elaborating.
