Khodorkovsky suspected of a new money laundering probe
Former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his lawyers have recently been notified by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office that Khodorkovsky is suspected of a new criminal case of money laundering. This case regards with the legalizing the proceeds of a crime.
Khodorkovsky’s lawyer, Yury Shmidt, told Interfax that the Prosecutor General’s Office investigators had not told the defense team anything new as the summons has said that Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were treated as suspects.
Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is already serving an 8-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud. The Kremlin foe is serving his sentence in an isolated Siberian camp 3,000 miles from Moscow. Now it is possible that he could spend many more years in prison, his attorney. Khodorkovsky’s imprisoned partner Platon Lebedev is also a suspect.
Both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev refused to answer questions and rejected the case. Shmidt claims that a new probe is the logical continuation of a government vendetta “aimed at putting moral and physical pressure on Mikhail Khodorkovsky, further destruction of Yukos and seizing its propertyâ€.
No details about the probe were provided by Prosecutors.