(Adds data on Novatek’s stocks in last paragraph)
WASHINGTON, Sep 24 (PRIME) -- Russian independent gas producer Novatek’s Deputy CEO Mark Gyetvay was arrested in the U.S.’ Florida under a U.S. $93 million tax evasion case, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement seen by PRIME on Friday.
“Mark Anthony Gyetvay allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States by concealing his ownership and control over substantial offshore assets and by failing to file and pay taxes on millions of dollars of income … which at one point had an aggregate value of over $93 million,” the department said.
Gyetvay was charged with the concealment of $93 million in offshore accounts as part of a major fraud scheme in 2005–2016. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of several dozens of years.
The prosecution set the bailout at $80 million, saying that the defendant can easily escape justice with all the means at hand. In addition to being a U.S. citizen, he is also a citizen of Russia, with which the U.S. has no extradition treaty, and of Italy.
The hearings on the case are to resume at 17.00 p.m. Moscow time on Friday.
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy to the U.S. told PRIME that Gyetvay has not yet applied for consular assistance.
Novatek’s stocks decreased 4% at the MOEX opening against the backdrop of Gyetvay’s arrest, but later seemingly stabilized at minus 1.4%.
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