MOSCOW, December 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant for a fourth suspect in the case of deputy finance minister, Sergei Storchak, accused of attempting to embezzle $43 million, the court's press office said Monday.
A key figure in Russia's Paris Club debt talks, Storchak was detained in Moscow along with two businessmen on November 15. Russia's Investigation Committee said his detention was related to the settlement of Soviet-era debts and that the measure was based on prosecutors' concerns that he could destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses. Storchak maintains he is innocent.
The Investigation Committee said earlier the detention was related to debts to the Sodexim company and that Storchak had been arrested along with Sodexim general director Viktor Zakharov and the president of the Moscow-based Interregional Investment Bank, Vadim Volkov. They face five to ten years in prison.
