Investigators from the Russian Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office Friday investigated the Moscow office of PwC, which represented the bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos in 2002-04, and seized a number of documents.
"According to the search warrant, the Interior Ministry was to seize documents dealing with 2002 tax claims," the company said. However, it said, the seized documents included some materials not related to the 2002 tax claim case.
"PwC strongly objects to the seizure of such information and has engaged legal counsel to ensure that applicable laws pertaining to the release of seized documents are respected and that all documents unrelated to the cases in question are promptly returned to PwC," the company said on its Web site.
Russia's Interior Ministry reported Friday that it was conducting checks into the company's Moscow office, which is suspected of evading 243 million rubles ($9.3 million) in taxes in 2002.
The company said it has already repaid the back taxes in full.
Russian law enforcement officers pressed the 2002 profit tax claim against PwC a year ago. The company has lost three appeals with arbitration courts since, and said Friday it was considering an appeal with the Supreme Arbitration Court.
Russian tax authorities are accusing PwC's Moscow branch of deliberately underestimating profit tax on sums it allegedly paid to offshore PricewaterhouseCoopers Resources B.V., which was supposed to provide financial consultations to clients in Russia.
Tax officials said the consultations were provided by the Moscow branch of the company instead.
Separately, PwC is also facing charges of covering up Yukos's illegal financial schemes and of drawing up two different audit reports in 2002-2004. The tax service is seeking to charge PwC $480,000, but the company has denied the accusations.
