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| Down Under |
| Interpol called in on ex-KGB murder |
| 2004-12-17 |
| QUEENSLAND police have stepped up their hunt for Russian fugitive Oleg Kouzmine, requesting international assistance to find the man wanted in connection with the Gold Coast murder of a former KGB colonel. The police moves to get an Interpol red notice come as a Russian-American businessman, Igor Solonkovich, has revealed his dealings with Mr Kouzmine led to him being wrongly accused of being a mafia standover man and charged with extortion. Mr Solonkovich, who runs a successful export business in New York State, says the episode in which he hunted down 40-year-old Mr Kouzmine, alleged to have fled Russia with about $1million of other people's money, almost ruined his business and his life. Speaking exclusively to the The Weekend Australian from New York, Mr Solonkovich said although charges had been dropped, he wanted to clear his name in Australia once and for all. A warrant is out for the arrest of Mr Kouzmine in connection with the 2000 slaying of Geunnadi Bernovski. Mr Kouzmine, his business partner, left the country shortly after the shooting. "We were trying to go through Interpol and the Russian police," Mr Solonkovich said. |
| Posted by:tipper |