IPOC has been in a long-running wrangle with Russia's Alfa Group over a 25.1% stake in MegaFon, Russia's third-largest cell phone operator, currently held by LV Finance and other Alfa subsidiaries, based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
The investigation into the embezzlement case was launched in 2004 at the request of the IPOC fund.
"The investigation has established that U.S. citizen Leonid Rozhetskin used a complex financial scheme to steal around $40 million intended for the purchase of a 25% stake in Megafon," the Moscow Prosecutors' Office said in a news release.
"At present, the investigation has enough evidence to prosecute Leonid Rozhetskin for embezzlement," the document said. "The Moscow Prosecutor's Office ruled him as the main suspect in the case, and issued an international warrant for his arrest."
The investigation is continuing under the personal supervision of Moscow's chief prosecutor, the news release said.
IPOC argues that LV Finance and Alfa Group knowingly struck a deal to sell the Megafon stake twice, in an international fraud centered on BVI companies. The sale process involved a complex network of over a dozen offshore companies, several based in the British Virgin Islands, including the three Alfa subsidiaries that presently hold the stake.
IPOC is a longstanding investor in MegaFon and currently already holds an 8% stake in the company, in addition to the disputed 25.1% stake.
