MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian law enforcement services will continue demanding the extradition of former Bank of Moscow (RTS: MMBM) President Andrei Borodin, who was recently granted political asylum in the United Kingdom, a Russian Interior Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Friday.
"Russian law enforcement agencies will further request Borodin's extradition because he has been charged with fraud in absentia and has been declared internationally wanted," he said.
The Russian Interior Ministry Investigative Department opened a criminal case against Borodin and Dmitry Akulinin, another former top manager of Bank of Moscow, in late 2010. They were charged with fraudulent use of 12.76 billion rubles of the city budget through a loan of the Bank of Moscow to the Premier Estate company.
On February 22, 2012, the Interior Ministry's Investigative Department opened a new criminal case against Borodin and Akulinin. They are suspected of embezzling 6.7 billion rubles from the bank.
A criminal inquiry was previously started into facts presented in the Anatomy of Protest 2 film that NTV aired on October 5. The film said that ex-Bank of Moscow President Andrei Borodin was ready to sponsor the Russian extra-systemic opposition with the mediation of Georgian Parliament Defense and Security Committee head Givi Targamadze.
The Vedomosti newspaper reported on Friday that the UK authorities had granted political asylum to Borodin.
The UK Home Office does not comment on its decisions regarding individual applications, a Home Office spokesman said.