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Berezovsky could face new Aeroflot fraud charges - paper

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Russia's fugitive tycoon Boris Berezovsky could face fresh charges of embezzling funds from Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot, a Russian business daily said on Wednesday.
MOSCOW, July 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's fugitive tycoon Boris Berezovsky could face fresh charges of embezzling funds from Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot, a Russian business daily said on Wednesday.

The RBC paper, citing a source in the national airline, said that prosecutors had completed an inquiry into illegal transactions involving $200-$300 million of Aeroflot revenues in 1996-1999 via the Swiss-based firm Forus Services SA.

Earlier this year, the Moscow City Court upheld a lower court's guilty verdict for Berezovsky on charges of embezzling 215 million rubles from the airline via Swiss-registered Andava in 1996-1997. He was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison on the charges.

Berezovsky and then-Aeroflot deputy general director Nikolai Glushkov were shareholders in Andava. Glushkov, who like Berezovsky currently lives in London, was also charged with transferring over $250 million of the carrier's foreign receivables to Andava, which charged exorbitant fees for cash management services.

The paper said the alleged scheme involving Forus Services, also co-founded by Glushkov, was similar to the Andava case. Forus received up to $300 million in the period, including about $10 million as commission for services to Aeroflot.

A former chief investigator in the 1997-2000 Aeroflot case told the paper that Forus Services was an intermediary firm set up to 'capture' the air company's foreign receipts.

"All the major air companies were shocked at the time that they had to pay millions to a commercial firm instead of to the Russian Federation," Nikolai Volkov was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The Russian prosecutor's office has said that Andava earned $11 million from its dealings with Aeroflot in 1997.

The daily said Berezovsky was not available for comment.

The businessman and fierce Kremlin critic earlier said his conviction in absentia was politically motivated.

Over a dozen criminal probes have been launched in Russia against Berezovsky, a one-time close associate of the late president Boris Yeltsin, including on charges of plotting to stage a coup and embezzling $13 million from a leading Russian bank.

Russia has issued multiple warrants for Berezovsky's arrest and has repeatedly demanded his extradition from Britain, where he was granted political asylum in 2000.

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