Suspect in Russian banker murder protests innocence
12 Jan 2007 14:48:54 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds new quotes, background) By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The Russian businessman who prosecutors say ordered the murder of central bank deputy head Andrei Kozlov protested his innocence on Friday as he was led away after a brief court hearing. A judge at Moscow's Basmanny court ordered that Alexei Frenkel -- head of a private bank which Kozlov shut down three months before he was shot in a Moscow parking lot -- be held for another 72 hours pending another hearing. As prison guards led him away after his first appearance in court, Frenkel shouted out to journalists waiting in the corridor: "Hello comrades. A big hello to everyone! Naturally, I am not guilty." The suspect, detained in the early hours of Thursday morning, has not been charged. The hearing was to ask a judge to formally approve his arrest. Frenkel was brought into court surrounded by armed police and prison guards. The judge agreed to a request for an adjournment to give the defence more time to prepare its arguments, Frenkel's lawyer Igor Trunov told reporters. Kozlov, who led a crusade against money laundering in Russia's secretive banking system, was shot in September after playing in a soccer game between central bank officials and bankers. CONTRACT KILLINGS It was one of the highest profile assassinations under President Vladimir Putin, raising fears for Russia's stability and memories of a wave of contract killings in the 1990s. Russia's police and prosecutors have a poor record on catching those responsible for big contract killings. No one has been convicted for the murder last year of investigative journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskya, or the killing in 2004 of U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. "Those who commit crimes must have no illusion -- they will not be able to pay their way out of it and they will not be able to hide," pro-Kremlin lawmaker Vladimir Vasilyev said on Russia's NTV television station. Police are holding a total of seven people over Kozlov's murder. They include the suspected hitmen. Kozlov, a father of three, was well respected for his fight against financial crime in Russia's banking system, where prosecutors say hundreds of tiny "pocket" banks are used to launder billions of dollars. The industry has been trying to clean up its act, attract foreign capital and distance itself from its violent origins in the 1990s. "A very big blow has been inflicted against the reputation of the Russian banking system," Garegin Tosunyan, President of the Association of Russian Banks, told Reuters in an interview. "But it is wrong to say that this is the face of the banking system as the banking sector is cleaning itself up." Frenkel, who was born in 1971, is the former CEO of VIP Bank. The Russian central bank, where Kozlov headed banking supervision, withdrew VIP Bank's licence in June 2006 for violating anti-laundering regulations. Russian media said Frenkel was also linked to another small private bank, Sodbiznesbank, which Kozlov took control of in 2004 after it was accused of laundering ransom money from hostage-taking. The former owner of Sodbiznesbank was shot dead in 2005 along with his wife, a child and a nun in central Moscow. (Additional reporting by Anatoly Titkin)
