Putin Ally May Control Big Mobile-Phone Stake

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Glenn R. Simpson glenn.simpson@wsj.com, Gregory L. White and David Crawford]
Russia's telecommunications minister was secretly named by his own law firm as the true owner of a Bermuda-based mutual fund that has amassed control of a large share of Russia's mobile-phone industry. Leonid Reiman, a longtime close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also was described by his own lawyers during a confidential meeting as standing to gain financially from companies since accused of stripping Russian state telecom assets. Several countries are conducting criminal investigations into the movement of $1 billion or more of Russian telecom assets to the Bermuda fund, through a series of European tax havens, trusts and holding companies. The developments also emerge against a backdrop of mounting concern in Western capitals about perceived abuse of power in Russia.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113763657133550478.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
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