Russian oil tycoon detained
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the richest man in Russia, has been charged with tax evasion and fraud.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the richest man in Russia and head of the country’s oil firm Yukos, was detained on Saturday morning in Siberia after months of judicial campaigning.
A spokesman for Yukos, Alexander Shadrin, told Interfax news agency that special forces had mounted Khodorkovky’s plane when it landed to refuel in Novosibirsk, en route from Nizhny Novgorod to Irkutsk.
Legal proceedings began in July against Yukos when a major company shareholder, Platon Lebedev, was arrested on charges of theft of state property in a privatisation deal nine years ago.
The investigation has since prompted murder, attempted murder and tax evasion cases to be launched.
Another Yukos shareholder, Vasily Shakhnovsky, was charged with tax evasion last week.
Mr Khodorkovsky was detained reportedly because he refused to come in for questioning. He will now return to Moscow. Prosecutors charged Mr Khodorkovsky with tax evasion and fraud.
“Khodorkovsky was summoned for questioning on Friday in the framework of a criminal case. Khodorkovsky demonstratively ignored the summons. Therefore, the investigator issued a resolution to force him to come, which was carried out,” a representative said.
