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Berezovsky found guilty of fraud by Russia court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Self-exiled Russian business tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found guilty of fraud in absentia Thursday by a Moscow regional court. The court found that Berezovsky and his business associate Yuli Dubov embezzled $4.5 million from their LogoVAZ car dealership. The charges, filed last November under the Russian Criminal Code, stem from a deal arranged between Russian car manufacturers AvtoVAZ and LogoVAZ that left 5560 cars unpaid for and resulted in the unauthorized use of approximately $24 million. Prosecutors alleged that Berezovsky and his associates used the money for investments in real estate, stock in media companies, and other expenditures. Berezovsky and Dubov will be sentenced Friday. Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year sentence for Berezovsky and want him to pay $1.9 million in compensation. A former associate of Boris Yeltsin and a political opponent of current Russian Prime Minister and former president Vladimir Putin, Berezovsky has been the target of several past criminal proceedings. In March 2008, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation to determine if Berezovsky falsely claimed the country's secret service had targeted him for assassination. In 2007, he was accused of plotting a coup against Putin. Berezovsky currently resides in the United Kingdom as a political refugee. Britain has refused Russian extradition requests, leading a Russian court in 2007 to sentence Berezovsky in absentia to six years in prison after he was found guilty of embezzling 214 million rubles from Russian national airline Aeroflot.11:50 AM ET: Berezovsky has been sentenced to 13 years.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 26, 2009 (boomark / email).