American Businessman Jailed in Perm
// On arriving in Russia from Switzerland
Arrest
The prosecutor's office of Solikamsk, Perm Region, has accused American citizen Maksim (Max) Dlugi, former chairman of the board of OAO Solikamsk Magnesium Plant, of embezzlement of $9 million. He had been wanted since November 2004. He was arrested in Sheremetyevo-2 Airport in Moscow, where he arrived from Switzerland with a connecting flight to Perm.
Dlugi was chairman of the board of the magnesium plant from the end of June through the middle of August 2003. He represented the interests of Russia Growth Fund, owner of 50.42 percent of the stock in the plant and controlled by businessman Mark Lisnyansky, on the board. At the end of 2001, Russia Growth Fund reached an agreement with the FTK Co., owner of 5 percent of the plant, on joint management of the business. FTK was to invest $20 million in the plant in the long term, and buy up to 25 percent of the stock in it from Russia Growth Fund, to become its largest stockholder. However, relations between the partners soured in 2003, after which Dlugi resigned. The conflict culminated in the sale by Russia Growth Fund of its shares in the plant to the local Silvinit Co.
The Perm Region prosecutor's office told Kommersant that a criminal case was initiated by the Solikamsk prosecutor's office on May 26, 2004, on petition of the plant's management. The investigation showed that, a year earlier, Dlugi, without authorization from the plant, served as guarantor of $9 million in bonds that were used in a financial speculation. The bonds ended up in the possession of three firms that had been registered to parties with stolen or lost passports and payment on them was demanded of the magnesium plant. The plant refused to do so but, consequently, an arbitration court rules to charge that amount against the plant's accounts. Finally, the plant's lawyers were able to solve the problem and a criminal case was initiated.
In November 2004, investigators assembled the necessary evidence to charge Dlugi, although he was abroad at the time and did not respond to summonses to Solikamsk. In December 2004, the case was halted, but Dlugi was declared wanted on a federal scale. The prosecutor's office forwarded the warrant for his arrest to the Interior Ministry and FSB. At the end of April 2005, Dlugi flew to Russia from Switzerland. While undergoing customs inspection, the computer database indicated that there was a warrant for his arrest and he was taken into custody. He was transferred to Solikamsk, where he was charged and a court approved his detention. He is currently being held at Holding Facility No. 1 in Perm.
“The embassy and consul general in Ekaterinburg have been notified of the arrest of the American citizen,” the prosecutor's office told Kommersant. “Investigation of the case should be completed within three months. The main problem is purely technical. We need an interpreter to translate the material of the case for the suspect.” They also noted that, several years ago, administrative charges were pressed against Dlugi for a traffic violation in Solikamsk and “he speaks and understands Russian excellently.” Sergey Shalaev, general director of the magnesium plant, refused to comment on the case. “I know that an investigation is underway, but there is nothing to comment on until the case is settled,” he told Kommersant.
Konstantin Sterledev, Ilya Ponosov, Nadezhda Emelyanov, Perm
All the Article in Russian as of May 17, 2005
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