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Russian Billionaire Is Arrested in London March 25, 2003 By ALAN COWELL LONDON, March 25 - The British police said today that they had arrested the self-exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky to start legal proceedings possibly leading to his extradition on fraud charges. The arrest illuminated the change in Mr. Berezovsky's fortunes since the 1990's, when he ranked among the most influential of so-called oligarchs at the Kremlin, engineering the destiny of presidents. A police statement said Mr. Berezovsky was arrested on Monday together with Yuly Dubov, a former chief executive of the Logovaz car company. "The charge alleges that between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1995, they defrauded the administration of the Samara region of 60 billion rubles whilst being directors of Logovaz," the police said. At today's exchange rate 60 billion rubles is equivalent to $1.9 billion. Mr. Berezovksy, 57, and Mr. Dubov, 54, were released on bail and ordered to appear in court for preliminary hearings on April 2. Mr. Berezovsky's lawyer, Andrew Stephenson, said the arrests had taken place at a pre-arranged meeting with the police. Russia asked for Mr. Berezovsky's extradition last November, a year after he arrived in Britain seeking permanent residence, and two years after he fled Russia claiming that fraud charges against him were part of a plot by President Vladimir V. Putin to silence him. Mr. Berezovsky has accused Mr. Putin of knowing that the security services in Russia carried out bombings of apartment buildings in Moscow, contrary to official allegations that Chechen serparatists were responsible. Mr. Berezovsky has told visitors that, while his case might be influenced by the international relationship between Britain and Russia, he believes the British court system will vindicate him in protesting his innocence. At the time that Mr. Berezovsky arrived in Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair boasted of close ties to President Putin, but the relationship between Moscow and London has soured over the war in Iraq. Russia has been one of the most bitter foes of Britain's alliance with the United States in the conflict. While in Britain, Mr. Berezovsky has angered Mr. Putin by seeking to organize an opposition political party and a human rights organization and has openly called for the Russian president's electoral defeat. He has also funded the legal fees of Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen leader held in Britain and also facing extradition proceedings. Alan Hamerman, a spokesman for Mr. Berezovsky, said the businessman regarded the fraud charges "as an open and shut case of political muscle from the Kremlin to shut him up" and insisted that "the allegations by the Russian authorities are false." "He is confident, upbeat and has faith in the British justice system," Mr. Hamerman said. "He says there is no case against him, no crime, no valid reason to extradite." Mr. Berezovsky's arrest signaled the start of extradition proceedings that, in Britain, can take years. The sequence from the initial request for extradition from a foreign state to actual handover of a suspect runs through six separate stages, and, at four of them, the case may be dismissed. The British Home Secretary must also rule on whether to initiate proceedings and, finally, whether to surrender the suspect. Earlier this month, Mr. Berezovsky won a major high court ruling in his favor in a libel suit against Forbes magazine. The case related to his days as a tycoon in the 1990's as Russia emerged from the Soviet command economy into a freewheeling, robber-baron capitalism that enabled a small number of businessmen - the so-called oligarchs - to win great influence at the Kremlin and amass fortunes from the break-up and sale of huge state monopolies. Mr. Berezovsky made his first fortune through the Logovaz car dealership and went on to build an empire spanning the news media, the Aeroflot airline, oil and aluminum. In the process, his control of broadcasting outlets enabled him to campaign for the 1996 re-election of President Boris Yeltsin and the election of Mr. Putin in 2000. Later that year, though, the two men fell out and Mr. Berezovsky left Russia for a relatively opulent self-exile. In an interview here in February he estimated his fortune at some $3 billion and he has enlisted high-powered public relations and law firms to fight his corner. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/international/europe/25CND-BORI.html?ex=1049607672&ei=1&en=168ee9a03c5e231e HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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