Berezovsky defeats $23m fraud demand

Russian entrepreneur Boris Berezovsky has seen off a $23 million fraud lawsuit after a UK judge threw out claims made by Russian airline OAO Aeroflot.

Boris Berezovsky

High Court judge Christopher Floyd said in a written judgement yesterday that Aeroflot lacked jurisdiction to enforce the payment by Mr Berezovsky, who Russian prosecutors claim stole the money in the 1990s, reports Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek web site.
The carrier also included former executive Nikolai Glushkov – also living in the UK – in the claim.

Politically motivated

The lawsuit follows the conviction of Mr Berezovsky in a Russian court in 2007 on allegations he embezzled money from state-controlled Aeroflot. Mr Berezovsky – who fled Russia in 2001 – said he did not return to fight the charges as he believed they were politically motivated.
Mr Berezovsky’s lawyer Garbhan Shanks, managing associate in the litigation and dispute resolution group of London-based law firm Addleshaw Goddard, said his client was ‘pleased with the judgement.’
Aeroflot is yet to comment on the case.

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