7 Dec 2010 17:47

Mirax Group offices searched as part of fraud inquiry - official

MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - Searches of the offices of the Mirax Group in Moscow have been conducted as part of an investigation into claims of large-scale fraud, Andrei Pilipchuk, spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry's Economic Security Department, told Interfax.

In October 2010, a criminal case based on fraud charges was opened against one of the directors of the state owned enterprise Rostekhinventarizatsiya-Federalnoye BTI, who was accused of illegally granting cadastral registration to several real estate properties in Moscow.

"Investigators think that some documents linked to this case could be in the Mirax Group office, where investigative measures were taken. They have already been completed," Pilipchuk said.

The searches "are not linked to the Mirax company directly," he said.