A Russian court sentenced self-exiled Russian businessman and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky in absentia on Thursday to six years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from Aeroflot.
Berezovsky, a political refugee living in London, had rejected the charges and refused to cooperate with the court, saying the accusations against him were politically motivated.
“The court has established that Berezovsky embezzled Aeroflot funds by way of fraud, being part of an organized criminal group,” Judge Igor Sheremetyev said in his ruling in the Savyolovsky district court in Moscow.
The judge said the criminal group included senior managers at Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline which Berezovsky controlled in the 1990s.
Investigators said Berezovsky stole about RUB215 million roubles (USD$8.83 million) of Aeroflot funds, of which he had laundered more than RUB16 million (USD$656,800).
Berezovsky was ordered to repay the money. But a court-appointed lawyer said he would appeal the decision, saying there was no proof that his client had “used even one rouble” of the airline’s funds.
Britain has rejected Russia’s demand for Berezovsky’s extradition to stand trial in Moscow, one of several irritants that have damaged relations between London and Moscow.
Berezovsky is one of a handful of magnates who made billions of dollars in the turmoil of post-communist market reforms. He was an influential political figure in Russia until he fell out with President Vladimir Putin in 2000 and left the country.
From London, Berezovsky later accused Putin of dismantling democracy in Russia.
The Kremlin, in turn, accuses him of trying to undermine Russia’s political stability and says he has close links with separatist rebels in Chechnya.
Source:Reuters
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November 30, 2007 at 12:40 am