Spain probes Russian billionaire Fridman for corruption

A Spanish court has put Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman under official investigation for corruption, accusing him of having helped orchestrate the bankruptcy of Spanish technology company Zed.

In a document seen Wednesday by AFP, the National Court, which deals with major financial cases, summoned Fridman for questioning on September 12, placing him under probe for corruption in business, market abuse, fraudulent insolvency and misuse of company assets.

One of the 100 richest men in the world according to Forbes, Fridman is accused of having led "a series of actions that led to the insolvency of the Spanish company ZED Worldwide SA... in order to buy it at a ridiculously low price, much lower than that of the market," the court document said.

According to the National Court, the Russian magnate was a shareholder and creditor for Zed, a Spanish technology company declared bankrupt in November 2016.

As a result, he had "a privileged position for any type of decision in the group," ..