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Russia: Police Search Offices of Fruit Importer Police Search Offices of Fruit Importer in Russia
(about 1 hour later)
Law enforcement officials on Thursday searched the offices of Vladimir Kekhman, the general director of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, as part of a widening fraud investigation into the Joint Fruit Company, of which Mr. Kekhman is a major owner. Known as “the Banana King,” because of the wealth he earned as a fruit importer, Mr. Kekhman in recent years has seemed to focus more on the arts than on business. Officials with the Interior Ministry told the news agency Interfax that it had uncovered evidence that between 2010 and 2012 leaders of the Joint Fruit Company had used falsified contracts with fictitious businesses to obtain large loans from major banks. Investigators said Mr. Kekhman was not a target of the investigation. The Joint Fruit Company filed for bankruptcy last year after creditors sought repayment of the loans. Mr. Kekhman issued a statement saying that he was “outraged” by the fraud allegations against company officials and that he was cooperating with law enforcement.Law enforcement officials on Thursday searched the offices of Vladimir Kekhman, the general director of the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg, as part of a widening fraud investigation into the Joint Fruit Company, of which Mr. Kekhman is a major owner. Known as “the Banana King,” because of the wealth he earned as a fruit importer, Mr. Kekhman in recent years has seemed to focus more on the arts than on business. Officials with the Interior Ministry told the news agency Interfax that it had uncovered evidence that between 2010 and 2012 leaders of the Joint Fruit Company had used falsified contracts with fictitious businesses to obtain large loans from major banks. Investigators said Mr. Kekhman was not a target of the investigation. The Joint Fruit Company filed for bankruptcy last year after creditors sought repayment of the loans. Mr. Kekhman issued a statement saying that he was “outraged” by the fraud allegations against company officials and that he was cooperating with law enforcement.