Breaking News

[vasisutha]

<b>Swiss freeze 'stolen' Yukos cash </b>

[align=center:a29e46c756]<img src='http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39878000/jpg/_39878240_khodorkovskyap.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image'>[/align:a29e46c756]

<b>The Swiss authorities have frozen $5bn belonging to Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his associates in beleaguered oil firm Yukos. </b>

Accounts of 20 Russian citizens were blocked on a request from the Russian Prosecutor General's office.

According to the office, the money was related to ongoing investigations into misappropriation of state funds.

Mr Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man, has been in jail since October, charged with fraud and tax evasion.

<b>Escape</b>

The investigation has prompted some former Yukos executives and shareholders to flee the country, claiming that the probe is politically motivated.

Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Dubov and Mikhail Brudno are currently living in Israel and were among those whose accounts were frozen on Thursday.

Investigators also named Platon Lebedev, who was arrested last year.

According to a spokeswoman for Russia's Prosecutor General, the accounts held "personal cash deposits by private individuals somehow or another implicated in the misappropriation of particularly large amounts of state funds".

Mr Nevzlin, however, was unconcerned by the actions of the Swiss authorities.

"There have never been billions on these accounts," he said. "I had less than $100,000 as collateral for my four credit cards.

"I guess I'll just have to use my other accounts."

He also said that the move was a public relations stunt to bolster support for Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of Sunday's election.

<b>Blind eye </b>

Some observers claim that the Russian probe was sparked by Mr Khodorkovsky's financing of opposition political groups in Russia.

It is thought that Russia's current administration was willing to overlook how certain businesspeople accumulated massive wealth after the fall of communism as long as they didn't dabble in politics.

As well as turning the spotlight on himself, Mr Khodorkovsky also brought increased scrutiny onto Yukos.

The Russian tax ministry says the company owes $3.3bn in back taxes and fines, roughly equivalent to the firm's net profits for 2002.

Yukos, which says it has a clean tax record and acted appropriately, has tried to defuse the situation by bringing in a number of new and mainly US executives.