Russian Court Convicts Berezovsky Again

Boris Berezovsky

MOSCOW -- Fugitive former Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky has been convicted of embezzlement, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The Krasnogorsk City Court in Moscow Oblast found Berezovsky and his associate, Yuly Dubsky, guilty of stealing 140 million rubles ($4.5 million) from the AvtoVAZ and LogoVAZ automotive companies in 1990s.

The trial was held in absentia. Berezovsky has been residing in Britain since 2001 and has political asylum there.

In 2007, a Moscow court convicted Berezovsky in absentia of embezzling $9 million from the Aeroflot state airline. He was sentenced to six years in prison in that case.

Prosecutors have asked the court to sentence Berezovsky to 15 years in prison in the latest case, and sentencing is expected on June 26.