The Prosecutor General's Office said Monday that Turover, who they believe is residing in Switzerland, is wanted on suspicion of fraud, theft and attempts to exhort a bribe.
Prosecutor Alexander Buksman said his office had asked for the warrant after determining that Turover posed in 1998-99 as an aide to then-Prosecutor General Yury Skuratov and took $3,000 from a woman to close a criminal case against her daughter. Buksman said Turover also is suspected of stealing a $16,000 watch and failing to pay $8,000 in rent on an apartment in downtown Moscow.
Buksman's office has repeatedly tried to summon Turover for an interrogation but to no avail.
Turover and Skuratov could not be reached for comment Monday.
But Turover, who once worked as a debt collector for a Swiss bank, told Russian media over the weekend that the accusations were groundless and an attempt by prosecutors to silence him.
"It's revenge by Borodin's mercenaries for my interviews and television statements," Turover was quoted Friday by the Segodnya newspaper as saying.
He said he was ready to rebut the prosecutors' charges but not in Russia.
Numerous reports have said Turover holds Spanish and Isreali passports.
Turover's testimony to Swiss prosecutors against Borodin is expected to play a key role in Switzerland's bid to extradite the former Kremlin adviser from the United States and put him on trial. Borodin was arrested in New York on a Swiss warrant in January.
His testimony is thought to have helped convince Geneva prosecutor Bernard Bertossa to charge Borodin of accepting tens of millions of dollars from two Swiss-based construction firms, Mabetex and Mercata, in exchange for awarding them contracts to refurbish Kremlin buildings.
Turover in his testimony has also implicated former President Boris Yeltsin in allegations of wrongdoing, according to The New York Times. In 1999, he said that he had seen credit card bills and photocopies of credit cards issued to Yeltsin and his daughters by a Swiss company that did $1.5 billion worth of work for the Kremlin, the newspaper reported.
Yeltsin has denied the allegations.
Turover, in an interview published Saturday by Kommersant, hinted that he could also testify against President Vladimir Putin, who once served as Borodin's deputy. "If they want to turn the Yeltsin-gate into a Putin-gate, one can do that," Turover said.
He did not elaborate on exactly how he might implicate Putin in the case.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.