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Russian Interior Ministry requests information about detention of Akhmed Bilalov in US

The former ski resort boss is accused of abuse of office in a commercial organization in his homeland

Akhmed Bilalov Vladimir Astapkovich/TASS

Akhmed Bilalov

© Vladimir Astapkovich/TASS

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. The Russian Interior Ministry has approached the United States for information about the detention of the former chief of the company North Caucasus Resorts, Akhmed Bilalov, who is accused of abuse of office in a commercial organization, a source in the law enforcement agencies said.

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"The Interior Ministry has addressed its US counterparts with a query concerning the detention of Russian citizen Akhmed Bilalov and the possibility of his deportation to Russia, where he is accused of a criminal offence," the source informed.

So far, there have been no notifications from the United States to the Russian authorities about Bilalov’s detention. Earlier, a source stated that the criminal case against Bilalov remained open and he continues to be investigated and remains on the international wanted list. However, the United States and Russia have no agreements on the extradition of suspects or convicts, so deportation is the sole possibility of Bilalov’s handover to Russia.

The Miami Herald on Tuesday quoted sources as saying Bilalov was detained near Miami, Florida by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the US Department of Homeland Security.

Bilalov affair

Up to February 2013 Akhmed Bilalov had led the North Caucasus Resorts company and held the position of vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). His brother Magomed Bilalov was deputy chairman of the Krasnaya Polyana company’s board. Some federal officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, said the company’s real owner was his elder brother Akhmed.

Up to the summer of 2012, Krasnaya Polyana had been the contractor responsible for building a number of Olympic facilities in Sochi. Akhmed Bilalov came under heavy criticism for the abuse of deadlines and exceeding budget costs more than four times. Russian President Vladimir Putin was among those who lambasted Bilalov after visiting the construction site in 2013. The project was eventually placed in Sberbank’s hands. Bilalov lost his posts in the company and the ROC.

In 2013, the Russian Interior Ministry opened a criminal case against the Bilalov brothers. They were charged in absentia under Part 1 of Article 201 of Russia’s Criminal Code (abuse of office in a commercial organization). In 2016, there were reports that the charges against the Bilalovs had been dropped. The Interior Ministry denied this, saying that both brothers had been put on the wanted list. At the same time no court orders were issued in absentia to arrest the Bilalovs. The former CEO of the company Krasnaya Polyana, Stanislav Khatskevich, was arrested only to be released a while later. His criminal case never went to court.

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