MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. The Tverskoy Court in Moscow has arrested in absentia David Kaplan, former co-owner of the Lithuanian bank Snoras, a TASS correspondent reported. Kaplan faces charges of a large-scale fraud in the case of embezzlement and the creation of a criminal community by the owner of the Summa Group Ziyavudin Magomedov and his brother Magomed Magomedov,
"To satisfy the petition of the investigation, to elect a measure of restraint for Kaplan in the form of detention in absentia," the judge said.
According to the defense, Kaplan is undergoing a medical treatment in Israel. He also has the Israeli citizenship. The investigation put him on the international wanted list. According to the court, he will be detained for two months from the moment of detention.
The investigator said in court that Kaplan is accused of involvement in the criminal community (part 3 of article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and three episodes of large-scale fraud worth more than 5 bln rubles ($77.9 mln).
The two criminal episodes include embezzlement in the course of construction of the Kyzyl-Kuragino railway and the reconstruction of the Khrabrovo airport in Kaliningrad.
The investigator did not specify the role of Kaplan in the fraud, but indicated that, being free, he could put pressure on witnesses.
"Detention is the only preventive measure that meets the interests of the investigation of the case," the investigator concluded.
On Thursday, the court also arrested in absentia another defendant in the case - former director of the Podolsk Electromechanical Plant (PEMZ) Murman Zakaradze. He became the seventeenth defendant in the case and also faces fraud charges.
In March of 2018, the Tverskoy court in Moscow arrested the Magomedov brothers and the former-head of the Intex company (part of the Summa Group), Arthur Maksidov. They are charged with organizing a criminal community and embezzlement of more than 11 billion rubles ($171.5 mln).