A Russian former bank chief who fled to London in 2011, after being accused of an alleged multi-million pound fraud, said he has been granted political asylum in Britain.
Andrei Borodin, the former president of the Bank of Moscow, welcomed the decision in a statement seen in London, saying the charges brought against him were “politically motivated”.
Borodin, 45, is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice international arrest warrant which states that he is wanted by the Russian authorities over an alleged fraudulent loan.
The charges followed the US$14 billion ( HK$ 108 billion) bailout of the Bank of Moscow in 2011, the biggest in Russian history.
State-owned bank VTB, which mounted a hostile takeover bid for the Bank of Moscow, said it uncovered bad loans totalling US$9 billion - a third of the bank’s assets.
No one could be reached for comment immediately at Britain’s Home Office.