MOSCOW, October 15 (RAPSI) – Searches are conducted in the offices of a foundation established by opposition politician Alexey Navalny in 30 Russia’s regions as part of a case over laundering money by which the organization has been allegedly financed, the Investigative Committee’s press service reports Tuesday.
According to the statement, places of residence of the fund offices’ employees are also raided; items and documents significant for the investigation are seized. Certain employees have been summoned for interrogation.
Moreover, a court ordered seizure of the foundation’s bank accounts upon a motion filed by investigators. It was revealed that funds were transferred to those accounts from abroad; that’s why the organization was added to the list of NGOs libeled “foreign agents”, the statement reads.
On September 9, the Russian Justice Ministry added Navalny’s foundation to the so-called foreign agents list. The decision was adopted based on the Federal Law on NGOs, according to the ministry’s press release.
The fact of the organization’s conforming to the “foreign agent criteria” was established during the monitoring of its activity conducted by the Justice Ministry’s Moscow Main Directorate, the ministry’s official website informed.
Navalny’s foundation was founded in 2011.