Russian oil tycoon accused of stealing oil worth £16bn

Russian prosecutors said today that jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner organised the theft of oil worth £16bn (€24bn), in the first details of new embezzlement and money laundering charges filed this week against Russia’s once-richest man.

A statement posted on the Prosecutor General’s website said that between 1998-2003 Khodorkovsky and business partner Platon Lebedev stole oil worth more than £16bn (€24bn) from OAO Yukos’ subsidiaries.