MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - The Prosecutor General's Office has concluded its investigation into the murder of a Central Bank money-laundering regulator, Andrei Kozlov, a lawyer for the chief suspect in the case said Tuesday.
Prosecutors arrested Alexei Frenkel, a former banker, in January as the chief suspect in the September 2006 murder of Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia. Kozlov closed down Frenkel's VIP-bank three months before the killing.
The Prosecutor General's Office confirmed in its statement later Tuesday that it had completed the investigation and said that the accused and their lawyers could begin studying the case materials.
Six people are now in custody for their alleged involvement in Kozlov's murder, including Liana Askerova, a restaurateur, whose testimony eventually led to Frenkel's arrest. Prosecutors claim that Frenkel was the organizer of the murder, while Askerova assisted him. They have both denied the charges.
Nikolai Klen, a lawyer for Askerova, said the defense, which consists of some 20 lawyers, would begin studying the case in two or three days, but he failed to specify how long it would take to study the 60 volumes comprising the case materials.
Igor Trunov, a lawyer for Frenkel, said he will be insisting on the trial by jury, which is possible if only one of the defendants asks for it.
"We will naturally ask for a trial by jury," Trunov said. "Frenkel himself insists on it."
Kozlov, 41, who has been described as a vigorous campaigner against corruption and money laundering in Russia's banking sector, was shot in the head late September 13 in what appears to have been a contract killing.
Kozlov and his driver, who died instantly, were gunned down as they left a sports stadium in northeast Moscow. The banker underwent emergency surgery, but died several hours later.
