Andrey Vavilov, former deputy finance minister, is accused of power abuse and embezzling $231 million.
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin
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Russian Senator Accused of Embezzling $230 M
Federation Council member Andrey Vavilov is suspected to be involved in embezzling $231 million in the mid-1990s. The Russian Supreme Court sees fraud and power abuse in Mr. Vavilov’s actions when he was serving as Russia’s deputy finance minister in 1997. Russian prosecutors are set to strip the Senator of his immunity while the official is now in the United States and his lawyer is drafting an appeal to the court’s decision.
The former deputy finance minister is accused of large-scale fraud and power abuse. According to prosecutors, Vavilov and a number of bankers created a criminal group in 1997, embezzling $231 million in MAPO MiG (now MiG Corporation). Back in 1997, the company asked the Russian government for an advance payment for an upcoming contract with India for MiG-29 fighters. The contract was never signed, but the Finance Ministry earmarked the money in March 1997. The company invested the money in securities, and then transferred it abroad to a front company where the money was allegedly stolen.
The Prosecutor General’s Office opened the embezzlement case back in 1997, sending Vavilov’s supposed accomplices to jail. The case, however, was closed in 2000 by a deputy prosecutor general’s personal order.
Six years later, the MiG embezzlement case was open again. The bankers and MiG former executives were put on the international wanted list and appeared on the dock again.
The Federation Council received a summons from the Supreme Court for Sen. Andrey Vavilov late December. However, Andrey Vavilov did not appear at the court hearing on January 10. His lawyer Alexander Muranov says that the Senator is in the United States recovering from an abdominal operation.
The Prosecutor General's Office wants the Federation Council to give its agreement to open a criminal case against Senator Vavilov. Prosecutors believe that Mr. Vavilov has left for the U.S., hoping to stay there until the case’s statute of limitation is over, which is in April. Andrey Vavilov told Kommersant that the accusations put against him are “based on pure suppositions” and simply false.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 15, 2007
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