Russia detains suspect for ordering banker murder
Source: Reuters
(Edits, releads with suspect's name) By Vera Kalian MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The man accused of ordering the murder of Russian central bank deputy governor Andrei Kozlov is the ex-head of small private bank that Kozlov closed down three months before he was shot dead, Russian media said. Lawyer Igor Trunov told Reuters his client, whom he named as Alexei Yefimovich Frenkel, was detained by police early on Thursday morning and is being held in a central Moscow police station. Russian media and financial information Web sites listed Alexei Frenkel as chairman of VIP Bank. The central bank withdrew the bank's licence to operate in June 2006, the central bank's Web site said. "He was detained at 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT on Wednesday) in a courtyard during a business meeting. After his detention he was taken to Petrovka (police headquarters in central Moscow)," Trunov told Reuters. "He does not accept any guilt." The lawyer refused to confirm that Frenkel had worked at VIP Bank. "He is involved in business activity," he said. Kozlov, who led a crusade against money laundering, was shot last September as he left a soccer game in Moscow. His killing raised concerns about stability and the rule of law under President Vladimir Putin. Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors said they had held a high-profile businessman on suspicion of ordering the murder, though they did not give his name. "As a result of an operation the suspect was detained at night between Jan. 10 and Jan. 11," said a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's office. "He is a Russian citizen and head of a large commercial structure." Kozlov, 41, was Russia's chief banking supervisor and had shut down dozens of banks accused of money laundering. After his murder, Putin called for urgent action to clean up Russia's banking system, which he said was being used for criminal ends. Seven people have been detained as part of the investigation, including some who confessed to having been hired to carry out Kozlov's killing, prosecutors said. Kozlov's driver was also killed in the shooting. Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika told Russian state television: "I have to say that -- as I promised -- this murder will be completely solved." CYNICAL KILLING Russia's banking sector was shaken by Kozlov's killing. The biggest business lobby, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, welcomed the suspect's detention. "The fact that this cynical crime, which shocked many people, will not go unpunished ... allows businesspeople and the banking community to look to the future with confidence," it said in a statement. Kozlov, a father of three, was well respected in financial circles at home and abroad for the fight against financial crime in Russia's banking system, where prosecutors say hundreds of tiny "pocket" banks are used to launder billions of dollars. In 2004, he intervened in Sodbiznesbank, a small Russian bank that was accused of laundering ransom money from hostage-taking. Central bank officials took control of the bank. Rumours spread that other banks were in a similar position, triggering a mini banking crisis. The former owner of Sodbiznesbank was shot dead in 2005 along with his wife.
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