Evgeny Adamov, former atomic energy minister of Russia
Photo: Pavel Smertin
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Charges Against Adamov Still Pending
Charges against Evgeny Adamov, former atomic energy minister of Russia, are still pending, Reuters reported with reference to the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and in clear contradiction to previous reports of Russia’s media that cited Adamov’s acquittal based on the statement of his lawyer Henry Reznik.
The speculations about potential acquittal of Adamov were triggered by the June 28 award of Pittsburg court passed for Adamov’s co-defendant Mark Kaushansky, former nuclear engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The two men were indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in Pittsburg on charges of stealing and laundering some $11 million that the Western nations appropriated for upgrading the Soviet-era nuclear reactors. Of that amount, $9 million passed through investment corporations that Adamov and Kaushansky created in the United States.
Kaushansky was charged with collusion with Adamov and was the key witness of prosecutors under his case. He pleaded guilty past year on nine counts related to tax evasion but omitting misappropriation of nuclear funds mentioned in the initial accusation. Kaushansky clinched a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 15 months in prison, the fine of $20,000 and three years of supervised release after the prison term. But he was freed from all other charges, including stealing the nuclear money. For Adamov, of vital importance is that the verdict mentions no Adamov-Kaushansky collusion.
But the U.S. federal prosecutors harbor no hopes to reach the end of Adamov’s case. “Adamov will probably never be in the United States to have the charges against him resolved,” judge Maurice Cohill announced Thursday.
Adamov was arrested in Bern, Switzerland, in spring of 2005. Both the United States and Russia filed extradition requests. But Switzerland upheld Moscow in the end, and former atomic energy minister returned to his homeland December 2005 to face the fraud charges in Russia. Adamov was freed under the not-to-leave recognizance in July 2006 and the prosecutors passed his case to the court the same day.
www.kommersant.com
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