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MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) - The governor of a mineral-rich region in Russia's extreme north has been detained as prosecutors pursue a fraud investigation, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said Tuesday.
Prosecutors announced Friday that an investigation into embezzlement had been opened with regard to Alexei Barinov, the governor of the Nenets Autonomous Area, but the spokesman refused to specify on what grounds the governor had been detained.
Sergei Gavrilov, an accountant with local oil company Arkhangelskgeoldobycha, was also detained, the spokesman added.
Prosecutors are investigating Barinov, who left his post as head of the LUKoil subsidiary in 2003 after several years in charge, his deputy Sergei Goryayev and Gavrilov, on suspicion that they used their posts to purchase several apartments via the company illegally and engaged in other fraudulent activities to the tune of 19 million rubles ($700,000).
