Boris Berezovsky

Infobox Person
name = Boris Berezovsky


birth_date = birth date and age|1946|1|23
birth_place = Moscow, Russia

Boris Abramovich Berezovsky ( _ru. Бори́с Абра́мович Березо́вский) (also known as Platon Elenin) (born January 23, 1946), is a Russian business man, billionaire and former mathematician. He is best known for his role as a Russian oligarch, media tycoon and politician during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s. He has been described by critics as the epitome of Russian "robber capitalism", but he denies having ever taken part in the violence that tainted Russian business during that era. Berezovsky was at the height of his power in the later Yeltsin years, when he was deputy secretary of Russia's security council, a friend of Boris Yeltsin's daughter Tatyana, and a member of the Yeltsin inner circle, or "family".

Berezovsky made his fortune importing Mercedes cars into Russia in the 1990s and setting himself up as a middleman distributing cars made by Russia's Avtovaz. As well as taking ownership of the Sibneft oil company, he became the main shareholder in the country's main television channel, ORT, which he turned into a propaganda vehicle for Boris Yeltsin in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election. Although he helped Vladimir Putin enter the "family", and funded the party that formed Putin's parliamentary base, Putin moved to regain control of the ORT television station, and to curb the political ambitions of Russia's oligarchs, who were extremely unpopular with the average Russian. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,1655229,00.html What a carve-up!] The Guardian Retrieved on April 5, 2008]

After the ascent of Putin to the Russian presidency, Berezovsky went into opposition and fled the country after being accused of defrauding a regional government of US$13 million. He was later granted political asylum in the United Kingdom. He has since publicly stated that he is on a mission to bring down Putin "by force". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6708103.stm Profile: Boris Berezovsky] BBC News Retrieved on April 5, 2008] In the UK, he became associated with Akhmed Zakayev, Alexander Litvinenko and Alex Goldfarb in what has become known as "the London Circle" of Russian exiles. He is a founder of International Foundation for Civil Liberties.

In 2007, a Moscow court found Berezovsky guilty of massive embezzlement in absentia. He was sentenced to six years in jail and ordered to repay the $9 million that he had stolen from the state airline Aeroflot. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7118660.stm Moscow court convicts Berezovsky] BBC Retrieved on July 29, 2008] He has also been accused by Russian authorities of being involved in the murders of several leading critics of the Putin's regime, including Federal Security Service defector Alexander Litvinenko and journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in an attempt to destabilize the country and discredit Putin. Arrest warrants for him have been issued in Russia and Brazil for allegations of fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, and he is currently under investigation by Swiss federal prosecutors for money laundering.

Berezovsky survived an assassination attempt in 1994 unharmed. There have been several other alleged assassination attempts on him which he accuses Russian agents of carrying out.

Early life and scientific research

Berezovsky was born in 1946 in Moscow to a Jewish father.Communist Party Leader Attacks Jews. "The Washington Post", December 25, 1998] He studied forestry and then applied mathematics, receiving his doctorate in 1983. He did research on optimization and control theory, publishing 16 books and articles between 1975 and 1989. He became a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1991, and the chair of a laboratory in its Institute of Control Sciences. His Erdős number is 4.

Business and political career in Russia

Berezovsky started in business in 1989 under "perestroika" by buying and reselling automobiles from state manufacturer AutoVAZ.

An transcript of an official interview of Boris with the First Post mentions: "In the early 1990s, he explained, he went to Germany, bought old Mercedes saloons at DM 700 a pop, then sold them in Moscow for $25,000: "Not a bad profit." He returned to Germany with 10 friends, and built an empire." [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/7865,opinion,my-dinner-with-boris-berezovsky] [http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/7865,opinion,my-dinner-with-boris-berezovsky,2]

Officially, Berezovsky was called upon as an expert in development of optimized system of management of the enterprise.

In 1992, a new middleman company, LogoVAZ, was created with Berezovsky as its president. LogoVAZ became an exclusive consignment dealer of AutoVAZ, enabling a scheme (named ReExport) in which cars were sold abroad and then bought back for sale on the internal market. Frequently, however, cars were not exported at all and the operations on export and import remained only on paper.fact|date=August 2008 In another business, May 1994, Berezovsky became head of the Automobile All-Russia alliance "АVVА" ("АВВА" in Russian Cyrillic) and became known as the initiator of "the national car" project. This enterprise turned out to be merely a financial pyramid scheme, as shares of a nonexistent factory which has never been constructed were sold to the investors.fact|date=August 2008

Berezovsky was a leading proponent of political and economic liberalization in Russia. He has frequently entered into politics by investing in the liberal media (his holdings included the television channels ORT and TV6, and newspapers "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", "Novye Izvestiya" and "Kommersant"), financing liberal candidates, making political statements, and even seeking office himself. He was briefly executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and later a member of the State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament).

In the position of the deputy secretary of the Security Council of Russia, [ [http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?1371 Chechen leaders deplore dismissal of Berezovskiy] , NUPI, 07.11.1997] Berezovsky was also involved in talks on freeing Russian and foreign hostages kidnapped in Chechnya and allegedly transferred large sums of money in exchange for hostages. In 1997, he delivered $2 million of governmental money in cash to Shamil Basayev, who was then in charge of the post-war reconstruction of Chechnya. Berezovsky had strong ties with Chechens through their Moscow diaspora connections. He said that he "saved at least fifty people, who otherwise would have been killed; most of them were simple soldiers. And believe me, all of this was strictly official, with the full knowledge and consent of the Kremlin." However, Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov accused Berezovsky and the Russian government of collusion with the hostage-takers.

During the presidency of Boris Yeltsin from 1991 to 1999, Berezovsky was among the businessmen who gained access to the president. He acquired stakes in state companies including AutoVAZ, the state airline Aeroflot, and several oil properties that he organized into Sibneft, paying a mere fraction of the companies' book values.fact|date=August 2008 Berezovsky established a bank to finance his operations and acquired several news media holdings as well. These media holdings provided essential support for Yeltsin's re-election in 1996.

According to Alex Goldfarb, Berezovsky secured Vladimir Putin's appointment to the Prime Minister position as a result of a secret agreement, where Putin promised his loyalty to Yeltsin and his closest circle including Berezovsky himself. On June 15, 2000, "The Times" reported that Spanish police discovered Putin had secretly visited a villa in Spain belonging to Berezovsky on up to five different occasions in 1999. [cite news | first=Giles | last=Tremlett | title=Leader's secret holidays to Spain | date=June 15 2000 | publisher ="The Times" | url=http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/4379.html##5 | accessdate = 2007-04-29| language =English] According to Ramzan Kadyrov, Berezovsky was strongly opposed to the Second Chechen War but nevertheless supported Putin's 2000 presidential campaign. However Putin later broke the agreement, allegedly when he was infuriated by the critical coverage of the Russian submarine Kursk explosion by ORT TV channel owned by Berezovsky. Putin forced Berezovsky to sell his ORT shares, partly in exchange for promising to free Nikolai Glushkov, a former manager of Aeroflot company and close associate of Berezovsky, according to Goldfarb.

While in Russia, Berezovsky survived several assassination attempts,cite news | first=Mary | last=Jordan | coauthors= Peter Finn | title=Russian Billionaire's Bitter Feud With Putin A Plot Line in Poisoning | date=December 9 2006 | publisher = "The Washington Post" | url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120800446_2.html | accessdate = 2006-12-09 ] including one in which a car bomb decapitated the chauffeur of his Mercedes-Benz 600 in 1994.

Work experience

After graduating from the Moscow Forestry Engineering Institute in 1968, Berezovsky worked as an engineer in a scientific and research institute. From 1969 till 1987 he filled the positions of an assistant research officer, research officer and finally the head of a department in the Institute of Management Problems of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

His academic career was rather good, but he was looking for full self-actualization. “I knew there were people more professional than me in the field of science. Perhaps it was one of the reasons for the change in my life. When I entered business, I felt that a few people could do the things I did”, he told in one of the interviews. For some time, he was alone in his unique business. A little bit later Mr. Khodorkovsky, Mr. Potanin and others now called oligarchs entered the business.

In 1989 Berezovsky and Samat Zhaboev organized “Logovaz” joint-stock company. In four years it became one of the biggest private enterprises in Russia. It was the major dealer of the Autovaz car producer. In 1993 the turnover of a company exceeded US$250 million. That was a time of the transition from planned to a market economy in Russia, and there was almost no private sector. On May 31, 1994 Logovaz became a holding company and Mr. Berezovsky was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Some time later Boris Berezovsky headed the Russian Automobile Alliance. Then he launched a project widely advertised as “popular car” project. The aim was to create a small and fuel-efficient Russian car very popular with motorists. He collected about US$50 million for this purpose, but the project has never been implemented.

At the end of 1996 he quit the position of a General Director of the Russian Automobile Alliance and tried to gain control over the Aeroflot Airlines — the biggest airline in Russia. At that time, about 51% of the shares of the company belonged to the state and it was impossible to gain full control over the company. However it could be done by giving positions to the managers that could be controlled. This is exactly what was done.fact|date=August 2008

In July 1994 Berezovsky's driver was killed in an attack, but Berezovsky was not hurt.

In January 1995 he took part in the creation of ORT - the biggest national television channel - and became a member of the Board of Directors. The same year he became acquainted with Roman Abramovich. They created an organization which later was used to privatize the Sibneft — a big Siberian oil company. [http://www.russiancourier.com/en/info/personalities/48711/] [http://www.iamanenglishman.com/page.php?iCategoryId=487&iParentId=64]

Exile in Britain

Russia neither welcomed Berezovsky's views on Chechnya, nor his political clout and opened investigations into Berezovsky's business activities. Fearing arrest, Berezovsky fled to London in 2001, where he was granted political asylum. He has been charged with fraud and political corruption, but British courts have rejected all three attempts to get him extradited to Russia. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1354681.ece Send Berezovsky back and we'll help with Litvinenko case, says Russia] Times Online Retrieved on April 6, 2008] From his new home in the U.K., he has strongly criticized the current Russian administration.

In 2003 Boris Berezovsky formally changed his name to Platon Elenin ("Platon" being Russian for Plato, and Elena is the name of his wife) in the British courts. No reason has been given - but Platon is the name of the lead character in a film "Tycoon" based on his life. In December 2003 he was allowed to travel under his new name to Georgia, provoking a row between Russia and Georgia.

In recent years, Berezovsky has gone into business with Neil Bush, the younger brother of U.S. President George W. Bush. Berezovsky has been an investor in Bush's Ignite! Learning, an educational software corporation, since at least 2003. In 2005, Neil Bush met with Berezovsky in Latvia, causing tension with Russia due to Berezovsky's fugitive status. [ [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/13659/ Berezovsky, Neil Bush, Latvian businessmen meet] , "Times", Sep 23, 2005] Neil Bush has also been seen in Berezovsky's box at the Emirates Stadium, the home of British soccer club Arsenal F.C., for a game. [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1864950,00.html Berezovsky and Bush's brother in the crowd at the Emirates] , "The Guardian", September 5, 2006] There has been speculation in the English language "Moscow Times" that the relationship may cause tension in Russo-American bilateral relations. [ [http://www.ncrp.org/AR-100605-MoscowTimes.asp Berezovsky Teams Up With Bush's Brother] , "The Moscow Times", Ocober 06, 2005]

Involvement in the 2004 Ukraine presidential election

In September 2005, soon after the Ukrainian government led by prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was dismissed by president Viktor Yushchenko, former president of the Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk accused Berezovsky of financing Yushchenko's presidential election campaign, and provided copies of documents showing money transfers from companies he said are controlled by Berezovsky to companies controlled by Yuschenko's official backers. Berezovsky has confirmed that he met Yushchenko's representatives in London before the election, and that the money was transferred from his companies, but he refused to confirm or deny that the companies that received the money were used in Yushchenko's campaign. Financing of election campaigns by foreign citizens is illegal in Ukraine. [ru icon [http://lenta.ru/articles/2005/09/15/money/ 25.01.2006 Пан Березовский вершит историю Украины] ] According to BBC's "The Russian Godfathers", [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_KB6mOCrSE&feature=related The Russian Godfathers, episode 1 part 2] BBC Retrieved on April 10, 2008] Berezovsky poured millions into sustaining the spontaneous demonstrations and was in daily contact with the key opposition leaders during the Orange Revolution.

In September 2007, Berezovsky launched lawsuits against two Ukrainian politicians, Oleksandr Tretyakov, a former presidential aid, and David Zhvaniya, a former emergencies minister. [ [http://unian.net/eng/news/news-210416.html Two Our Ukraine lawmakers summoned to court upon Berezovskiy`s lawsuit] , "UNIAN", September 3, 2007.] Berezovsky is suing the men for nearly US$23 million, accusing them of misusing the money he had allocated in 2004 to fund the Orange Revolution.

His statements

About Vladimir Putin

Boris Berezovsky has publicly accused Vladimir Putin of being “a gangster”. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05oligarchs.html?ref=business]

Planning of Second Chechen war

Berezovsky said that he had a conversation with the Chechen Islamist leader Movladi Udugov in 1999, six months before the beginning of fighting in Dagestan.Alex Goldfarb, with Marina Litvinenko "", The Free Press, 2007, ISBN 1-416-55165-4, page 216. ] A transcript of the phone conversation between Berezovsky and Udugov was leaked to one of Moscow tabloids on September 10 1999. [ "Death of a Dissident", page 189.] Udugov proposed to start the Dagestan war to provoke the Russian response, topple the Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and establish new Islamic republic of Basayev-Udugov that would be friendly to Russia. Berezovsky asserted that he refused the offer, but "Udugov and Basayev conspired with Stepashin and Putin to provoke a war to topple Maskhadov..., but the agreement was for the Russian army to stop at the Terek River. However, Putin double-crossed the Chechens and started an all-out war."

Political controversy

In September 2005, Berezovsky said in an interview with the BBC: "I'm sure that Putin doesn't have the chance to survive, even to the next election in 2008. I am doing everything in my power to limit his time frame, and I am really thinking of returning to Russia after Putin collapses, which he will." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4286284.stm Losing power: Boris Berezovsky] BBC News Retrieved on April 5, 2008] In January 2006, Berezovsky stated in an interview to a Moscow-based radio station that he was working on overthrowing the administration of Vladimir Putin by force. [ru icon [http://echo.msk.ru/news/290978.html 18:21 : Борис Березовский в течение последних 1,5 лет готовит силовой захват власти в России. Опальный олигарх считает, что все перемены будет осуществлять активное меньшинство.] ]

On April 13, 2007, in an interview with the British newspaper "The Guardian", Berezovsky declared that he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin by financing and encouraging coup plotters in Moscow: "We need to use force to change this regime. It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure."' [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2056321,00.html 'I am plotting a new Russian revolution'] , "The Guardian", April 13, 2007 ] He also admitted that during the last six years he struggled much to "destroy the positive image of Putin" and said that "Putin has created an authoritarian regime against the Russian constitution.... I don't know how it will happen, but authoritarian regimes only collapse by force." [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/ap_on_re_eu/russia_britain_berezovsky Kremlin foe calls for Putin's Ouster] , Yahoo! News, April 13, 2007.]

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has launched a criminal investigation against Berezovsky to find whether his comments can be considered a "seizure of power by force", as outlined in the Russian Criminal Code. If convicted, an offender is facing up to 20 years of imprisonment.

The British Foreign Office denounced Berezovsky's statements, warning him that his status of a political refugee may be reconsidered, should he continue to make similar remarks. Furthermore, Scotland Yard had announced that it would investigate whether Berezovsky's statements were in violation of the law. [ [http://www.kommersant.com/p-10534/Berezovsky Scotland Yard to Examine Berezovsky’s Interview] , "Kommersant", April 14, 2007.] However in the following July, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Berezovsky would not face charges in the UK for his comments. Kremlin officials called it a "disturbing moment" in Anglo-Russian relations. [Anglo-Russian relations [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jul/19/russia.world] Retrieved on April 7 2008]

Soon after Berezovsky's statement, Garry Kasparov, an important figure of the opposition movement The Other Russia and leader of the United Civil Front, wrote the following on his website:

"Berezovsky has lived in emigration for many years and no longer has significant influence upon the political processes which take place in Russian society. His extravagant proclamations are simply a method of attracting attention. Furthermore, for the overwhelming majority of Russians he is a political symbol of the 90s, one of the "bad blokes" enriching themselves behind the back of president Yeltsin. The informational noise around Berezovsky is specifically beneficial for the Kremlin, which is trying to compromise Russia's real opposition. Berezovsky has not had and does not have any relation to Other Russia or the United Civil Front." [ru icon [http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=462668EB23D6F Неудобные вопросы] ]

Berezovsky responded in June 2007 by saying that "there is not one significant politician in Russia whom he has not financed" and that this included members of Other Russia. The managing director of the United Civil Front, in turn, said that the organization would consider suing Berezovsky over these allegations. [ [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070628/68006393.html Russia's United Civic Front may sue Berezovsky over funding claims] ]

Alleged assassination attempts in London

Alleged 2003 plot

According to Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR agent in London was making preparations to assassinate Berezovsky with a binary weapon in September 2003. This alleged plot was reported to British police. Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. "Death of a dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB", The Free Press (2007) ISBN 1-416-55165-4 ] Hazel Blears, then a Home Office Minister, said that inquiries made [into these claims] were "unable to either substantiate this information or find evidence of any criminal offences having been committed". [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040113/text/40113w08.htm#40113w08.html_spnew7 House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 13 Jan 2004 (pt 8) ] ] Berezovsky in turn later accused Putin of ordering the deadly poisoning of Litvinenko. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HFEWWMHWC1HKDQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2006/11/19/npoison119.xml Putin tried to kill my friend, claims Russian billionaire] , "The Telegraph", 19/11/2006]

This was not the first alleged plot to murder Berezovsky that had been announced by Litvinenko. On November 17 1998, during the period that Vladimir Putin was the head of the FSB, five high-ranking officers of FSB's Directorate for the Analysis of Criminal Organisations appeared at a press conference in the Russian Interfax news agency. The officers, including the then-Lieutenant Colonel Litvinenko, accused the head of the Directorate and his deputy of ordering them to assassinate Boris Berezovsky and the FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin in November 1997.

Alleged 2007 plot

In June 2007 Berezovsky said he fled Britain on the advice of Scotland Yard, amid reports that he was the target of an assassinationattempt by a suspected Russian hitman. On July 18 2007, British tabloid" The Sun" reported that the alleged would-be assassin was captured by the police at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2094719.ece Security services ‘foil plot to kill Berezovsky at the London Hilton’] , "The Times", July 18, 2007] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6905271.stm Man questioned over tycoon 'plot] BBC News Retrieved on April 5, 2008] They reported that the suspect, arrested by the anti-terrorist police after being tracked for a week by MI5, was deported back to Russia when no weapons were found and there was not enough evidence to charge him with any offence. [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2782504.ece The plot to kill Boris Berezovsky] , "The Independent", 29 November 2007] In addition, they said British police placed a squad of uniformed officers around the Chechen dissident Akhmed Zakayev's house in north London, and also phoned Litvinenko's widow, Marina, to urge her to take greater security precautions. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2132120,00.html Police feared assassination for two Russian dissidents] , "The Guardian", July 22, 2007] Russia's ambassador to the UK, Yuri Fedotov, said he was not aware of any such plot and told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was "nothing that could confirm" the plot, although British police did confirm that they had arrested a suspect in an alleged murder plot.

Berezovsky said he was told the assassin would be someone he knew, who would shoot him in the head and then surrender to the police. He again accused Vladimir Putin of being behind a plot to assassinate him. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/19/wrussia119.xml Boris Berezovsky: 'Putin behind plot to kill me'] , "The Telegraph", 23/07/200] The Kremlin has denied similar claims in the past. [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/07/19/001.html Police Back Berezovsky Murder Story] , "The Moscow Times", July 19, 2007] According to "The Guardian", there is speculation that Berezovsky leaked details of the alleged attempt to kill him to the media to antagonise Moscow, once the British authorities had returned the suspected hitman to Moscow. The timing of the story has also been seen as suspicious, coming in the middle of a row over Britain's attempts to charge a Russian businessman and former security agent, Andrei Lugovoi, with Litvinenko's murder.

According to the interview given by a high-ranking British security official to the BBC2 in July 2008, the alleged Russian agent, known as "A" , was of a Chechen nationality. [pl icon [http://www.tvn24.pl/12691,1556489,0,1,rosjanie-to-nie-my-zabilismy-litwinienke,wiadomosc.html Rosjanie: To nie my zabiliśmy Litwinienkę] , Polska Agencja Prasowa, 08.07.2008] He was indentified by "Kommersant" as the Chechen mobster Movladi Atlangeriyev, forcibly disappeared in January 2008 by the unknown armed men in Moscow. [ [http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/368821.htm Kremlin Fingered in Litvinenko's Murder] , "The Moscow Times", July 09, 2008 ]

Allegations and convictions of criminal activity

Criminal conviction

On September 5, 2007, a trial in absentia began in Moscow to examine allegations that Berezovsky had embezzled money from the Russian airline carrier Aeroflot in the 1990s. [http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/09/05/afx4084239.html "Berezovsky embezzlement trial starts in Moscow"] , "Forbes", September 5, 2007.] On November 29, 2007, a Moscow court found Berezovsky guilty of massive embezzlement, and sentenced him to six years in jail. The court found that he had stolen 214 million roubles (nearly $9 million) from Aeroflot through fraud, and ordered him to repay it. Berezovsky called the verdict "a farce". The judge described Berezovsky as part of an organized criminal group that included Aeroflot managers.

Litigation with "Forbes"

A 1996 "Forbes" magazine article titled "Godfather of the Kremlin?", by the Russian-American journalist Paul Klebnikov, portrayed Berezovsky as a mafiya boss who had his rivals murdered. Berezovsky sued the magazine for libel, and the dispute was ultimately settled with the magazine retracting both claims. Klebnikov expanded the article into a book, "Godfather of the Kremlin", that Berezovsky did not contest in court. Klebnikov was eventually murdered in 2004.

Arrest warrants in Russia and Brazil

Prosecutors in Russia have accused Berezovsky of a host of crimes, including fraud, embezzlement and preparing a violent overthrow of Putin's government. Berezovsky denies all the allegations.

On July 12, 2007, a Brazilian judge issued an arrest warrant for Berezovsky and a number of other British and Brazilian suspects in connection with an investigation against the Media Sports Investments group, which is suspected of money laundering. [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2125480,00.html "Arrest order issued for Tevez's agent accused of money laundering"] , "The Guardian", July 13, 2007.] Berezovsky is accused of being the main financial backer of MSI. Since Berezovsky, Iranian-born Kia Joorabchian and Noyan Bedru were not in Brazil at the time, warrants for their arrest were forwarded to Interpol. Berezovsky dismissed the Brazilian investigation as a part of the Kremlin's "politicized campaign" against him. [http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1377014120070713 "Berezovsky links Brazilian arrest order to Kremlin'"] , Reuters, July 13, 2007.]

Allegations of handling and money laundering

Berezovsky has been investigated by the Swiss financial authorities since 1999 for money laundering and membership of a criminal organization. In 2003, the Swiss Bundesanwaltschaft started a criminal case against Berezovsky and, amongst others, Nikolai Glushkov, for money laundering through the Swiss firms Ovaco AG, situated at the Monbijoustrasse in Bern, and Anros SA in the Lausanne World Trade Center. [ [http://www.weltwoche.ch/artikel/print.asp?AssetID=4742&CategoryID=66 "King of Intrigue"] , article by Daniel Ammann in the "Weltwoche", Switzerland, 2003. ] Berezovsky claimed the proceedings were motivated by antisemitism. [http://www.20min.ch/news/ausland/story/29599113 "Bundesanwaltschaft has been proceeding against Berezovsky for three years"] , "20 Minuten", Switzerland, 2006. ] In December 2006, as news broke of the death of Alexander Litvinenko, the Bundesanwaltschaft announced that its investigations against Boris Berezovsky were still continuing.

In August 2007, the Russian Deputy Prosecutor General announced that the Dutch tax police had visited Moscow in connection with a handling and money laudering case involving Berezovsky. As Russian media were claiming [ [http://www.kommersant.com/p799478/Boris_Berezovsky "Berezovsky prosecuted in Holland"] , "Kommersant", August 29, 2007.] that a criminal case had been initiated against Berezovsky in the Netherlands on a charge of money laundering, the Dutch prosecuting office or Openbaar Ministerie hastened to announce that he was not the object of any criminal investigation in the Netherlands, while Berezovsky himself responded by saying that he had no business in the Netherlands. Several Dutch newspapers counterclaimed that the name Boris Berezovsky was in fact mentioned in the handling and money laundering dossier, [ [http://www.haarlemsdagblad.nl/nieuws/binnenland/article2361880.ece? "Name of Berezovsky is indeed mentioned in the dossier"] , "Haarlems dagblad", August 30, 2007. ] to which the Dutch prosecution officers in function refused to comment.

ee also

*Roman Abramovich - former business partner sued by Berezovsky for approximately $4 billion over the Sibneft share-and business blackmail affair.
*Badri Patarkatsishvili - important intermediary between Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich who was reportedly paid $500 million by Abramovich for protecting him.
* International Foundation for Civil Liberties
* List of Russian billionaires
* Russian oligarchs
* Vladislav Listyev

References

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thy3C_rlUGc The Russian Godfathers (BBC documentary)]
* [http://www.voltairenet.org/article30030.html Boris Berezovski, the smuggler] , Voltaire Network, April 26 2004.
* [http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1996/1230/5815090a.html Godfather of the Kremlin? Power. Politics. Murder. Boris Berezovsky could teach the guys in Sicily a thing or two.] Forbes, December 30, 1996.
* [http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_30/b3691184.htm Boris Berezovsky: Tycoon under Siege] , BusinessWeek, July 24 2000.
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2056321,00.html London exile Berezovsky says force necessary to bring down President Putin]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2057106,00.html Police probe exile's claims about Russian 'revolution']
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2057099,00.html Britain counts cost of diplomatic furore over Berezovsky]
* Berezovsky, Boris (2005). [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1540-5842.2005.00730.x Putin Is Terrorist Number One]
* Berezovsky, Boris (2004). [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j..2004.00643.x Putin Restores Soviet-Style Power]