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Russia places former bankers on Interpol wanted list

Former Bank of Moscow top executives Andrei Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin were put on the Interpol wanted list

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, November 23 (Itar-Tass) — Former Bank of Moscow top executives Andrei Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin were put on the Interpol wanted list, as suspects in a 13-billion-rouble fraud," spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) Marina Gridneva told Itar-Tass.

"The Russian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has agreed to putting former executives of the Bank of Moscow Andrei Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin on the Interpol wanted list," Gridneva said.

"The decision was made by the results of a study of the criminal case handled by the Interior Ministry’s investigation department over fraud with the city budget funds which the Bank of Moscow passed to the Premier Estate company. The defendants in the case are Andrei Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin," the spokeswoman added.

She reminded that a new resolution was passed in September 2011 to arraign them under the Criminal Code Article 159, Part 4.

"In this connection, the resolution on international arrest warrant has been updated by requalifying the defendants' actions," Gridneva said. In May, 2011, Moscow's Tverskoi court sanctioned custody as the measure of restraint for Akulinin.

Interpol Russia was instructed to arrange the search for them outside of Russia. "In case of the establishment of the whereabouts of Borodin and Akulinin in the territory of one of the Interpol member-states, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office will forward an extradition request for arraigning them for fraud," Gridneva added.

Former Bank of Moscow president Andrei Borodin and his former first deputy Dmitry Akulinin reportedly fled Russia. A court sanctioned their arrest in absentia.

Earlier, they were charged with abuse of office within the criminal case over the theft of some 13 billion roubles from the Bank of Moscow. The money ended up on the personal account of Yelena Baturina, the wife of former Moscow mayor.

"Borodin, together with Akulinin, abetted by president of the Kuznetsky Most Development private company Boris Shemyakin, director general of the Premier Estate company Svetlana Timonina and a number of unidentified accomplices, stole Bank of Moscow funds, causing a 12.5 billion-rouble damage to the bank," the Interior Ministry’s investigation department said.

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