Key Figure In Russian Corruption
Inquiry Accuses Yeltsin
ROME, Aug 27, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse)
A man named as a key figure in a probe into a
Kremlin financial scandal has accused Russian
President Boris Yeltsin of accepting bribes, the
Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported Friday.
Russian-born businessman Felipe Turover told the
newspaper he was a witness in four investigations in
Russia and in Switzerland because of his
longstanding high-level contacts in Russia.
He said Yeltsin was "behind" Pavel Borodin, the
Kremlin property manager -- a powerful job that
allows him to decide who wins contracts to service
everything from Kremlin real estate to cars.
Borodin is suspected of having taken bribes from
Kosovar businessman Bexhet Pacolli in return for
important construction contracts in Moscow.
"Behind Pacolli, there is Borodin and behind Borodin there is only one
person, the most important of persons," said Turover.
Asked by the newspaper who he meant, he added: "President Yeltsin, who
still backs him (Borodin) because Borodin knows too much."
Turover continued: "When he (Borodin) is no longer useful or is too much of
a threat, he will fly through a window like his predecessor, the Treasurer of
the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) Krushina, who in 1991
took a dive from the window of the same office that Borodin occupies
today."
Turover, who holds joint Israeli-Spanish nationality, added: "For 30 years
you have the flower of the construction industry present in Russia. You have
French, Turkish, Finnish and Italian companies."
Suddenly, they had disappeared in favor of a little Swiss company with
100,000 francs (62,000 euros) in capital: Pacolli's company, said Turover.
"I think there is enough material there to awake the interest of the
magistrates."
The Kremlin was using Pacolli's company to grab the state's wealth, he
added.
The Kremlin on Thursday denied that Yeltsin and his family had foreign
bank accounts, as Corriere reported in an earlier article.
Borodin on Thursday denied allegations of taking bribes from Pacolli, saying
the accusations were part of a media-led smear campaign against the
president and his advisors.
Pacolli has also denied the accusations in an interview with Corriere.
On Thursday, the paper carried an interview with Russia's former chief
prosecutor Yury Skuratov, who accused Yeltsin's office of blocking his
investigation into corruption at the highest levels.
Swiss magistrates have seized documents linking Yeltsin and his family to a
kickbacks scheme of at least $1 million.
Italy's Corriere della Sera reported Wednesday that the payments were
made by the Swiss-based company Mabetex in exchange for lucrative
contracts to restore the Grand Kremlin palace and the government building.
The kickbacks scheme revelations have coincided with growing questions
about Russian money-laundering, after the New York Times last week
reported that billions of dollars from the Russian mob had moved through
the Bank of New York in what could be the biggest money laundering
scheme ever detected in US history. ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse) |
