Yukos, under siege by the Russian authorities with massive tax claims, and with its ex-CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky in prison in Moscow, is denying new allegations that it laundered 250m euros using a Mafia syndicate in Marbella, Spain.
"It is absurd. One could just as well claim that we laundered money on Mars," said Yukos spokesman Alexander Shadrin. "This is my official comment on these allegations."
Spanish police arrested 41 people on Saturday in breaking up a massive money laundering operation originating in Russia, said the Spanish Interior Ministry on Saturday. Those arrested in the Marbella region included Spanish, French, Finnish, Russian and Ukrainian citizens, the ministry said, describing the roundup as Spain's biggest crackdown ever on money laundering. The ministry said the money to be laundered stemmed from an illegal siphoning of funds from the embattled Russian oil firm Yukos.
The Russian Prosecutor General`s Office has so far made no comment, but added money-laundering charges to existing tax fraud charges against Khodorkovsky in December. It is unclear whether Yukos's controlling shareholder, Group Menatep, registered in Gibraltar, which is very close to Marbella, is in any way linked to the alleged money-laundering.
"Yukos used to transfer money via the Netherlands to the Del Valle Abogados law firm in Marbella," alleges the Spanish Interior Ministry. Yukos is the chief entity under investigation as the company was one of Del Valle Abogados` principal clients, said Spanish news agency EFE reports.
According to the Spanish news agency, the individuals arrested in Marbella, Cadiz and Alicante are suspected not only of money laundering but also of murder, kidnapping, banditry, drugs trafficking, compulsion to prostitution, tax evasion and stock exchange machinations.
Last week, Yukos made a last ditch attempt to secure bankruptcy protection in the United States, asking US District Judge Nancy Atlas to afford its remaining assets protection while it launches a formal appeal against Houston Judge Clark's denial of its request for protection. Speaking last Wednesday, Judge Atlas announced that she would reach a verdict by March 18, stressing that the firm's arguments deserve "careful consideration and analysis in writing".
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