You're reading: Russian Investigative Committee confirms Khodorkovsky put on intl wanted list

Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin has confirmed that former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was declared internationally wanted.

“Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been put on the international wanted list,” Markin told Interfax on Thursday.

Khodorkovsky was declared internationally wanted last December, he added.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax earlier on Thursday that Khodorkovsky was put on the Interpol wanted list as part of an inquiry into the murder of Neftyugansk Mayor Vladimir Petukhov.

“The Interpol National Bureau for Russia, acting on the basis of the materials received from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, has declared Khodorkovsky internationally wanted. The relevant decision has been forwarded to Interpol’s Central Bureau in Lyon,” the source said.

On October 25, 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested on charges of misappropriation and tax evasion. In 2005, he was found guilty of fraud and other crimes. Bearing in mind subsequent appeals, his prison term as set by the court totaled ten years and ten months.

On November 12, 2013, Khodorkovsky, without admitting his guilt, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon him citing family reasons. On December 20, 2013, Putin signed a decree pardoning the former Yukos CEO.

Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin announced on June 30, 2015 that a criminal investigation into the murder of the Neftyugansk mayor had been resumed.

Neftyugansk Mayor Petukhov was shot dead on his way to work on June 26, 1998. At that time, Yukos was the main employer in the city and the mayor allegedly had a conflict with the company over unpaid taxes to the local budget. The mayor demanded that a criminal investigation be launched against Yukos. Former head of the Yukos security department Alexei Pichugin was convicted of killing Petukhov.