Boris Spiegel arrested for alleged bribes
Boris Spiegel, a Russian-Jewish pharmaceuticals mogul, has been arrested in Moscow in connection with a corruption investigation.
Spiegel, who has donated substantial time and effort to
various Jewish community projects and the World Without Nazism anti-racism
organization that he founded, was charged with offering a local politician the
equivalent of about $400,000 in bribes, RIA Novosti reported Monday.
Spiegel’s wife, Yevgenia, was also arrested along with
several other individuals in connection with the corruption investigation that
began with a probe into the affairs of Ivan Belozertsev, the governor of the
Penza region about 300 miles southeast of Moscow.
All the suspects have denied the accusations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of
weaponizing the judiciary to neutralize critics. Spiegel, however, has not
clashed with Putin and is considered friendly to the president.
The arrests come six months before the September Russian
legislative election, which Putin’s critics are trying to turn into a
referendum on his authoritarianism and alleged corruption by his cronies.
Earlier this year, many Russians were outraged at reports
that Putin owns a vast Black Sea resort featuring a casino, an ice rink and a
vineyard. Alexey Navalny, a rival of Putin who is currently in jail for what
many believe are trumped up charges, claimed Putin was the property’s owner in
a video that went viral. But Arkady Rotenberg, a Jewish gas magnate, said he
owned the resort.
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