10.09.2001 Russia, Moscow region.
Russian writer Yuly Dubov (right) tugs a cart during the presentation of the ''Olygarch'' movie, directed after Mr Dubov''s novel, in the Archangelskoye Park.
Photo: Valery Levitin
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Our Man in Scotland Yard
// British police in search of Russian oligarchs’ informer
Scotland Yard conducts investigation concerning one of its employees, said The Times yesterday. He is suspected of selling secret information on issues of extradition to Russia to British security agency ISC Global. The agency represents the interests of several Russian oligarchs living in Great Britain. “What reasonable person, who came to England for help, would be running away from Scotland Yard?” wondered political emigrant Yuli Dubov.
The Times obtained a payment document which might be the evidence of the connection between one of Scotland Yard employees and security agency ISC Global serving “wealthy Russian clients.” A former Scotland Yard employee brought the document to the anti-corruption department of the organization in February. Total of £20,000 ($37,000) were addressed to the received under the code name Hoah. The former employee hinted that it might be one of the extradition department officers who allegedly is a friend of one of ISC Global directors—a former Scotland Yard officer as well. Scotland Yard told The Times that it suspects Detective Sergeant Gary Flood.
Sergeant Flood, who is now suspended, admitted he is friends with a former ISC Global employee whose name is kept back. Sergeant Flood claims he did not break the law, and is ready to cooperate with the investigators.
Meanwhile, The Times said interesting details have already been discovered in the course of investigation. Security agency ISC Global was set up in October 2000 by a British lawyer Stephen Curtis. He was already acting for a group of Russian businessmen led by Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Leonid Nevzlin, who appointed Curtis the managing director of Group MENATEP. Russian oligarchs allocated £3 million ($5.6 million) to create ISC Global. Within first three years, the agency received £6 million more ($11.1 million) from its Russian sponsors.
ISC Global was created to ensure safety to its clients and to collect information on the attempts of Russian government to extradite them. That is why the agency needed a Scotland Yard source. According to a “secret dossier” published by The Sunday Times in mid-May, another aim of the ISC agency was to discredit Russian President Putin and “11 top officials from his team, including Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Sibneft owner Roman Abramovich.”
Stiven Curtis died in a helicopter crush in March 2004. ISC stopped its activities. Then is was bought by two former Scotland Yard officers, Keith Hunter and Nigel Brown. They renamed the ISC agency into RISC. Keith Hunter’s representatives told Kommersant that “Mr. Hunter firmly believes he has not done anything illegal.”
Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s lawyer Yuri Schmidt said he has not heard of ISC Global before, though he has heard a lot about Curtis. Even though Curtis’s death is strange, Schmidt does not take seriously the stories about Khodorkovsky’s and Nevzlin’s alleged plot to remove Putin from power. Schmidt also thinks that Russian officials might be interested in using this story to improve their image, especially spoiled by the Khodorkovsky case, before the G8 summit in July.
Political emigrant in London Yuli Dubov told Kommersant that the whole Scotland Yard – ISC story really surprised him. He doubted that “someone living in England would play such games.” He could not find a reasonable explanation to the questions “what for would anyone need the information on extradition,” and “what reasonable person, who came to England for help, would be running away from Scotland Yard.” Dubov sees “absolutely no logic” in the story by The Times.
Alena Miklashevskaya, Marina Lepina
All the Article in Russian as of June 03, 2006
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