Investigative Committee searching Lenenergo office
ST. PETERSBURG. Sept 7 (Interfax) - Investigators came to the office of power company Lenenergo with a search warrant on Wednesday morning as part of a criminal case, the Russian Investigative Committee's chief investigations department for St. Petersburg told Interfax.
"A search is being conducted in a criminal case," the spokesman said, without providing other information.
The search is related to a case opened under Article 294 of the Criminal Code concerning perversion of the course of justice, and is being conducted in the company's security department.
However, a source in St. Petersburg law enforcement told Interfax that the search was being conducted pursuant to a case opened under Part 4, Article 159 of the Criminal Code (fraud).
"It is pending at the Investigative Committee's chief investigations department for St. Petersburg. There had been obstruction of the police working on the case on the part of Lenenergo. On that basis, the Investigative Committee opened the case," the source said.
A Lenenergo spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the report of a search, saying only that the company was assisting the investigation.
"An inquiry into the events of 2013 has been received at Lenenergo. The company is cooperating fully with the investigation," the spokesman said.
The former heads of the electricity company, Andrei Dorochinsky and Denis Slepov, are facing criminal abuse-of-position charges relating to dealings with Tavrichesky Bank running into the billions of rubles. Tavrichesky Bank chief Sergei Somov is currently under investigation for his role in the affair. The case is being examined in St. Petersburg court.
In addition, it was reported earlier that a host of general contractors for Lenenergo were detained on suspicions of fraud.
