— Reuters picMOSCOW, March 31 — The co-owner of Russia’s Summa investment and trading group, Ziyavudin Magomedov, and two business partners have been detained on suspicion of embezzling large sums of state money, the Russian interior ministry said today. The exact whereabouts of the money is unknown, the prosecutor's office admitted on Saturday.Magomedov, who has stakes in construction, logistics, transportation and energy companies through his multi-profile Summa group, landed the sixty-third spot on the Forbes' list of Russia's richest businessmen. His brother, Magomed Magomedov, has an estimated net worth of $0.45 billion.In the run-up to the arrests, extensive searches were carried out in 25 Russian regions, including in Moscow, the Russian Interior Ministry reported.Russian Kommersant daily reported that investigations were also conducted into the embezzlement of some 752 million rubles ($13.2 million) from the construction of a football stadium in Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, which was commissioned for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in RussiaAt the pre-trial hearing in Moscow's Tverskoy District Court, Magomedov pleaded not guilty, claiming that the case against him "does not stand up to scrutiny."
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs detains Ziyavudin Magomedov, his brother Magomed Magomedov, and the chief executive of the Summa Group on charges of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association. A Moscow court orders Ziyavudin Magomedov, one of the richest Russians, to remain in pre-trial custody until May 30.