'Invented by Putin': Russia opens criminal case against Kremlin critic, Navalny responds

Russia on December 29 launched a probe against the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for ‘fraud’, alleging that his Anti-Corruption firm FBK used more than 356 million rubles ($4.8 million) charity funds for personal use, including paying expenses from a holiday overseas. Russia’s Investigative Committee, separately, also commenced an investigation against the former for defamation of a Moscow district court judge, according to sources of Russian news agency TASS. Navalny now faced a criminal case against charges of embezzlement of 356 million rubles collected from nonprofit organizations. 

In a statement, cited by TASS, the Investigative Committee said that Navalny’s firm misused Anti-Corruption Fund that it had ‘exclusively’ raised from NGOs. It added that the Main Investigative Directorate of Russia’s Investigative Committee collected enough information that confirms that Navalny used the money to purchase “personal property (and) material assets and to pay expenses (including holidays abroad)”. He now has charged over signs of ‘fraud’ of a large scale, the committee said in a release.

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The Committee reportedly announced that after a thorough investigation, the de-facto leader has been found indulging in a mass scale monetary fraud through his organization. The funds collected from citizens were stolen, the committee alleged, adding that the criminal act carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. However, Navalny described the criminal probe against him as "invented by Putin" and dismissed the charges against his firm FBK as baseless. 

Putin's 'chef' sues Navalny

Earlier, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, dubbed as Putin’s chef sued Navalny and his ally, Lyubov Sobol, for 5 million rubles (approx. $66,000). Prigozhin who’s known for organizing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dinners with foreign dignitaries had won a lawsuit against Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). Navalny’s foundation, known for conducting high-profile investigations into alleged corruption of top government officials, had uploaded a video investigation against the catering magnate Prigozhin that prompted him to file a defamation lawsuit that appeared on the website of a Moscow court, according to a Russian news agency Kommersant. 

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