A Russian parliamentarian has called for an investigation into corruption allegations against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Valery Rashkin, a lawmaker from the Communist Party, filed a formal request with Russia's Investigative Committee, asking its director, Alexander Bastrykin, to investigate allegations that Medvedev is the mastermind of a multi-million dollar corruption scheme. Rashkin announced the request in a tweet this morning.
Valery Rashkin's tweet reads: Regarding Dmitry Medvedev's palaces and dachas.
The allegations against the prime minster stem from an enormous investigation published early this month by opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF). The report alleges that Medvedev controls a mansion near Moscow worth 5 billion rubles ($85 million), a winter home in the mountains near Russia's Krasnodar region, and another mansion in the Kursk region.
The report also alleges that Medvedev owns two large plots of land in Krasnodar, an Italian vineyard, and a lavish residential building in the heart of St. Petersburg with luxurious apartments and two yachts.
However, on paper, Medvedev is not the formal owner of these properties. Rather, they are owned and managed by several charity foundations and firms — some in offshore zones run by Medvedev's university classmates. Funding comes from generous donations to these foundations from oligarchs and top-managers of Russia's biggest state companies, as well as soft loans from state-controlled banks.
Neither Medvedev, nor his spokespeople have commented on the investigation.
In December 2015, Rashkin filed a similar investigation request, after the ACF published another report on the allegedly corrupt business practices of State Presecutor Yuri Chaika and his relatives.
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