A RUSSIAN oil tycoon has been arrested at his Costa Blanca home over an alleged €35 million fraud in his native country.
The unnamed 58-year-old man was detained by the Policia Nacional in Altea who executed an International Arrest Warrant issued by Russia.
The head of the Policia Nacional’s organized crime group in Alicante said that ‘fugitives take advantage of being tourists or owning second homes to mingle in with a community to attract little attention’.
READ MORE:
Judicial authorities in Russia claim the man stole money in his role as head of an oil supply division of a major company.
The warrant does not go into any further detail, only to add that the accused man presented and accepted false documents relating to the supply of services, which amounted to an alleged fraud.
If convicted, he faces a 10-year prison sentence.
He has been handed over to the custody of the National Court in Madrid which handles extradition proceedings.
No details have been given as to whether or not he plans to challenge extradition to Russia.
There is a strong presence of wealthy Russians in the Altea area of Alicante province, and last October, a Benidorm court decided that five members of the Russian mafia will face trial for ‘money laundering from ex-Soviet organized crime’.
One of those in the dock will be solicitor Alexey Shirokov, who the judge described as a ‘lobbyist’ for the Popular Party in Altea.
The judge said he had a network of contacts with public officials and police forces in Alicante province to help his business clients with the processing of residence permits, habitability licenses or information on vehicle registrations.
Apart from Shirokov, the other men to face charges will be Maxim Khakimov, Nikolay Mitryurev, Denys Katana and Mikhail Zhizhin.
