Navalny Charged with Fraud, Money Laundering

Investigators in Russia have formally charged leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg with fraud and money-laundering. The charges were published on Thursday on the website of the Investigative Committee. The brothers are accused of stealing 55 mln roubles ($1.8 mln) in 2008-11 while working in a postal business. The amount is the three year turnover of their mail delivery company. The investigators say that the delivery was "in fact carried out" by a subcontractor of the brothers' company, and  the "real price" of the services was 31 mln roubles. Reacting to news of the inquiry last week, Mr Navalny described the charges as "complete nonsense". Alexei Navalny, a lawyer known for his campaigning against corruption, spearheaded protests against the Kremlin a year ago after disputed parliamentary elections. In October, he came in first in a leadership ballot organised by Russia's opposition parties. The charges of fraud and money-laundering carry fines or prison sentences of two and three years respectively.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20798023
http://lenta.ru/news/2012/12/20/charge/
http://www.sledcom.ru/actual/272378/