Former Russian atomic minister sentenced to 5 ½ years in Siberian penal colony

[bananas]

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2008/Adamov_sentenced

Former Russian atomic minister Adamov sentenced to 5 ½ years in penal colony for fraud and abuse of office

Yevgeny Adamov, the former Russian minister of atomic energy who is still wanted by Washington for pocketing millions in US aid money earmarked for increasing nuclear safety in Russia - and was then found guilty by Russian authorities of embezzlement of state funds and abuse of office - was sentenced to five and a half years Wednesday by a Moscow court.

Charles Digges, 20/02-2008

The guilty verdict against Adamov, 68, who served as atomic minister from 1998 to 2001, was for defrauding the Russian government of some $31 million in US aid money and stock dividends that accrued on that aid money while held by Adamov.

Adamov will serve his time in a so-called standard regime penal colony in Siberia, the Russian RosBusinessConsulting news wire reported. In a curious addition to the sentence pronounced against him, Adamov is also forbidden to occupy any civil service posts for the next three years, the newswire said. He was taken into custody in the courtroom.

<snip>

Adamov initially charged by US Justice Department
Adamov was arrested in Switzerland on US warrant and jailed for nearly six months there in 2005. US federal prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania wished for Adamov to stand trial in the US for bilking at least $9 million in US aid and laundering it through a series of banks and businesses – one called Omeka in Pittsburg.

<snip>

Adamov’s US partner given light sentence for cooperation
US Justice Department officials accused him and his partner, a Ukrainian born nuclear engineer with Westinghouse named Mark Kaushansky, of setting up US corporations and diverting US government funds intended to upgrade Chernobyl-style nuclear reactors and other nuclear security issues in Russia to these companies.

<snip>