AFK Sistema Board of Directors Deputy Chairman Alexander Goncharuk and Vice-President Sergei Drozdov played an active role in the unlawful legalization of Bashneft (MOEX: BANE) stock, according to detectives.
Detective Alexei Veselyev made a statement to the effect at the Moscow Basmanny District Court on Friday, an Interfax correspondent reports.
He said that so far it was impossible to bring the inquiry to an end.
“It is still necessary to question witnesses and to carry out procedures for holding [certain] individuals liable,” Veselyev said.
According to Veselyev, the Russian law enforcement authorities will ask foreign colleagues for legal assistance. There have been numerous media reports saying that a key suspect in this case, Ural Rakhimov, is in hiding abroad.
A source familiar with the case said earlier that a number of senior AFK Sistema officials were avoiding police interviews related to the Bashneft case and therefore might become most wanted persons. The source mentioned AFK Sistema Board of Directors Deputy Chairman Alexander Goncharuk and Senior Vice-President – Corporate Property Department Head Sergei Drozdov in the first turn.
“There has been no information about their return to Russia,” the source said.
The investigative bodies said earlier that Goncharuk and Drozdov had been avoiding visits to the Russian Investigative Committee. The company said its employees were abroad, on holiday and undergoing a course of medical treatment.