MOSCOW, April 18 - RAPSI. A police raid at the Skolkovo Innovation Center prevented its head, billionaire and CEO of the Renova Group conglomerate Viktor Vekselberg, from delivering a report at Sberbank's annual Russia Forum, a source with inside information told RIA Novosti.

"Forum participants expected to hear a report by Viktor Vekselberg today. But he missed the forum because of a police investigation at the center," the source said.

The Skolkovo representative told RIA Novosti that police and Federal Security Service (FSB) officers came in the morning, gathered the foundation's staff in a conference room and asked everyone to turn over their cell phones. By early afternoon, investigators were talking to the foundation's president, billionaire businessman Viktor Vekselberg and his deputy and had most likely handed him a warrant for the planned search.

On February 12, a criminal case was opened against former Skolkovo financial director Kirill Lugovtsev and the head of the Skolkovo center's Customs Finance Company, Vladimir Khokhlov. According to investigators, they used nearly 24 million rubles ($768,490) in state funds that were allocated for Skolkovo's development to rent real estate.

Skolkovo Foundation, set up in 2010 by then President Dmitry Medevedev, is the primary agency for the Skolkovo high-tech development district, including a business center, science and technology institute and management school. Intended to be a showcase element of the drive to diversify and modernize the economy, progress in developing Skolkovo has been slow, amid allegations of malfeasance around the project. Renova Group's president Viktor Vekselberg is one of the fund's prime investors.