Alexei Pichugin, the former security chief of Russian oil giant, YUKOS, recieved a 20 year sentence for murder and attempted murder.
The court ruled that Alexei Pichugin was responsible for organizing the murder of a married couple in 2002. He was also found guilty for the attempted murder of a Moscow official.
According to a Bloomberg article,
“The sentence was handed down by a Moscow City Court judge today after a jury on March 24 found Pichugin guilty of organizing the murders of Sergei Gorin, a former business associate, and Gorin’s wife. Pichugin was also found guilty of attempting to kill Olga Kostina, a former employee at Yukos-affiliated Menatep Bank.
Yukos owners Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia’s richest man, and Platon Lebedev, are standing trial on fraud and racketeering charges, which they deny. A prosecutor yesterday demanded both men be sentenced to 10 years in prison. Since Khodorkovsky’s arrest in October 2003, Yukos’s market value has plunged 96 percent. Its main production unit was seized and sold by the government last year.”
“The cases are obviously all linked,” said Roland Nash of Renaissance Capital. “The verdict on Pichugin leaves one expecting Khodorkovsky and Lebedev will be locked up for a long time.”
Tax collectors are also seeking a claim against Khodorkovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev for more than $US700 million.
An ABC News Online article says:
“Khodorkovsky’s defence team has called the case a politically motivated show trial to punish the magnate, once credited by Forbes magazine with a $US15 billion fortune, for posing a political threat to President Vladimir Putin.
Khodorkovsky’s arrest at gun-point 18 months ago sparked criticism from human rights groups and stunned investors who had come to regard YUKOS as a blue-chip stock and a model of management for other Russian firms to follow.”
murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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