MOSCOW, February 4 - RAPSI. The police are searching the offices of Marshall Capital as part of an investigation into VTB loan fraud, the company told the Prime business news agency on Monday.

Marshall Capital is owned by Konstantin Malofeyev, the largest shareholder in the Rostelecom national telecom operator.

"The police are holding investigative actions at Marshall Capital, such as seizing documents," an employee told Prime. "The office of the company's lawyer Irina Vilter has also been searched."

"We consider the searches illegal, as the company has always cooperated with law enforcement agencies and provided them with the necessary documents," he said.

According to the employee, Marshall Capital will contend the actions of the law enforcement agencies in court. None of the company's employees have been detained or interrogated, he said.

In late November 2012, the police searched the home of Malofeyev and the offices of Marshall Capital and the Safe Internet League, which the businessman had established. The searches were held as part of a criminal case investigating fraud involving a $225 million loan, which a VTB subsidiary issued to Russagroprom to finance the acquisition of dairy plants from Nutritek International Corp.

Nutritek International Corp, which is an asset of Nutritek, was earlier controlled by Malofeyev's companies. Russagroprom defaulted on its loan repayments and VTB recovered under $40 million.

Prime has yet to secure comments from law enforcement agencies.