MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian holding whose partners have been detained on charges of smuggling yachts into Russia denied the accusations against them on Thursday, calling them a "misunderstanding".
"Burevestnik Group considers the incident [arrests] that took place on September 2 to be a misunderstanding which will be cleared up in the near future," the firm said in a statement posted on its website, adding that it "rules out" that any smuggling can have taken place.
Nine suspects have been detained on smuggling charges. Investigators said on Wednesday that the organized crime group includes top managers from the Burevestnik holding group, the Burevestnik yacht club, Aston Martin Moscow, and Marine AG Ltd, as well as a Federal Customs Service official. All are Russian citizens.
The group has allegedly been smuggling luxury yachts and motorboats from Italy and Britain since 2007.
Among those arrested was Andrei Lomakin, managing partner at Burevestnik Group and general director of Aston Martin Moscow. He was arrested outside the RIA Novosti building while on his way to a news conference on Wednesday.
Russian prosecutors said on Thursday that Andrei Boiko, co-founder of Marine AG and Lomakin's partner, had also been arrested.
Prosecutors said Boiko had underestimated the value of smuggled yachts while assessing them. They said 150 fake seals of offshore companies had been seized from Burevestnik and Marine offices during searches.
Prosecutors said damages to the state budget were still to be determined.
The Burevestnik yacht club, which is to hold an international yacht exhibition on September 4-6, said on Wednesday the event would go ahead despite the arrests.
Burevestnik Group said last November it had sold about 500 yachts and motorboats in 2007, and that its companies account for 40-50% of Russia's yacht market.
