The Russian prosecution believes that former Yukos oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovsky stole Yukos shares during its privatization and was also laundering money, Alexander Kurennoy, the spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th July, 2019) The Russian prosecution believes that former Yukos oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovsky stole Yukos shares during its privatization and was also laundering money, Alexander Kurennoy, the spokesman for the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, said on Thursday, commenting on the so-called third Yukos case.
"The third Yukos case is a criminal case against former owners, managers and employees of Yukos over stealing oil and legalizing the stolen property and money obtained through this sale, including the connected case against Khodorkovsky and other people over legalization of Yukos shares that they stole from the government from 1995-2003, as well as of oil company's funds in the amount of over $6 billion," Kurennoy said, as broadcast by video service Efir.
In 2003, Russian authorities accused the leadership of Yukos of committing financial crimes, and a number of Yukos managers were convicted of fraud and tax evasion. Khodorkovsky spent 10 years in prison for these charges before being pardoned and leaving the country shortly after being released. Yukos was declared bankrupt, with state-controlled oil company Rosneft buying the bulk of its assets. Company shareholders have since been seeking compensation in various courts.
