Russian law enforcement authorities issued an international arrest warrant for an exiled former senator and oil executive accused of fraud, media reported Monday, citing Moscow’s court system.
Viktor Khoroshavtsev is accused of embezzling almost 9 billion rubles ($111 million), the Kommersant business newspaper reported early Monday. There were no other details disclosed about the criminal charges.
Khoroshavtsev, 72, served as a Russian senator from 2003 to 2009 until he was appointed president of the oil company Bashneft.
Russia’s state oil giant Rosneft bought a controlling stake in Bashneft in 2016 after investigators arrested billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov over his conglomerate Sistema’s acquisition of shares in Bashneft. Yevtushenkov was later released over a lack of evidence.
Khoroshavtsev reportedly moved from Bashneft to Sistema in 2011, then resigned from all of his positions in Yevtushenkov’s companies the following year.
Moscow’s Tverskoy District Court ruled on March 29 to place Khoroshavtsev in pre-trial detention in absentia, according to the Interfax news agency.
The Moscow City Court heard an appeal against that ruling on Monday, according to Kommersant. Russia’s Interior Ministry issued an international search warrant for Khoroshavtsev after the unsuccessful appeal.
Khoroshavtsev faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of large-scale embezzlement.
It is unclear where Khoroshavtsev currently lives, but investigative news outlets claim to have found his name among property owners in Croatia, where he was linked to Yevtushenkov, and the United Arab Emirates, where he was listed as an Israeli passport holder.
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