International crime boss to face Russian charges

One of the world's most wanted businessmen, Sergey Schneider, could finally face prosecution in Moscow. The Ukrainian is wanted in a number of countries for charges ranging from fraud to racketeering. He’s now accused of large-scale tax evasion along with

For 15 years Schneider, who’s also known as Semyon Mogilevich, has been on the run from Russian police, the FBI and Interpol.

He was arrested in Moscow last week together with Vladimir Nekrasov, the owner of a giant cosmetic chain in Russia.

The two men are accused of a tax scam involving around $US 2 MLN – a charge their lawyers deny.

61-year-old Mogilevich is suspected of many grave crimes but has managed to outwit the world’s best intelligence agencies for years.

“The man has about 12 names and he’s a citizen of several states,” explaines Angela Kastueva from Russia’s Interior ministry.

The list of countries includes the United States. Since 2003 Mogilevich has been on the FBI’s most wanted list accused of serious fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

After his arrest in Russia it’s expected the U.S. will now seek his extradition but with no official treaty between the two countries it’s unlikely this will happen.