Moscow - A Russian investigator due to travel to meet Swiss counterparts yesterday says he has been removed abruptly from a case connected with President Boris Yeltsin and his family, Seamus Martin reports. His telephone has also been cut off.
Mr Georgy Chuglazov is inquiring into a company called Mabetex, which was contracted to do a major renovation of the Kremlin in Moscow. In a raid by Swiss law enforcement agencies at the Mabetex headquarters in Lugano, credit-card slips belonging to President Yeltsin and his two daughters were discovered, according to the office of the prosecutor of the Swiss canton of Ticino.
"As far as allegations of corruption being made by the western media are concerned, I can confirm that 98 per cent of these claims are already on my file," Mr Chuglazov told Russian TV news.
In a series of scandals Russian officials, many closely associated with Mr Yeltsin and his family, have been accused of serious corruption. Up to $2 billion is believed to have been channelled out of Russia each day.