MOSCOW, October 5 (RAPSI) – Russian investigators along with police officers on Thursday conducted searches as part of a criminal case against former Yukos shareholders over oil stealing and money laundering, the Investigative Committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko told journalists.

Law enforcement officers raided premises and offices of businessmen and other persons, who are allegedly financed from foreign accounts of companies controlled by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Leonid Nevzlin and other members of their group, the statement reads.

Investigators have obtained evidence entitling them to declare four foreign companies allegedly connected with financing businessmen and firms acting on behalf of Open Russia organization undesirable. However, financing from abroad is still in progress, according to the Investigative Committee.

The check of facts of embezzling Yukos shares, funds and subsequent money management is underway because of international proceedings initiated on behalf of Hulley Enterprises Ltd., Yukos Universal Ltd. and Veteran Petroleum Ltd., seeking to recover over $50 billion from Russia, Petrenko said.

According to Open Russia, on October 5, law enforcement officers raided premises of the organization’s executive director Timur Valeyev, the website’s editor-in-chief Veronica Kutsyllo, parents of Alexander Solovyev, the chair of cognominal movement, network engineer Artem Minich, former Open Russia employee Nikolay Levshits, and daughter of the Investigations Management Center’s editor-in-chief Andrey Konyakhin. Searches were also conducted in the editorial office of Open Russia website in central Moscow, the organization claimed.