Russian Lawmaker Faces Fraud Charges

Russian investigators brought fraud charges against a lawmaker from the opposition party "A Just Russia" on Thursday, just weeks after he was stripped of parliamentary immunity from prosecution. Oleg Mikheyev is suspected of real estate fraud and attempting to embezzle 2.1 billion rubles ($69 million) from the Promsvyazbank bank, the Investigative Committee said on its website. He denies the charges. Russia’s State Duma voted to strip Mikheyev of his parliamentary immunity from prosecution on February 19 at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The charges follow a series of scandals involving State Duma lawmakers, three of whom have quit this year, with widespread speculation in the media of more resignations to come.
http://en.ria.ru/crime/20130307/179866472/Russian-Lawmaker-Faces-Fraud-Charges.html