WASHINGTON, November 7 (RIA Novosti) – US prosecutors have refused to comment on court documents pointing to American law enforcement agencies' attempts to recruit Russian businessman Vadim Mikerin, accused of receiving bribes from US citizens in exchange for uranium supply contracts.
"This is a sealed document, I'm not sure how it found its way into the proceedings," US Attorney Office representative James Crow told reporters Thursday in an attempt to object the defense discussing the motion publicly.
"In my 40 years [of legal practice] I haven't seen anything like that," Mikerin's attorney Dan Hurson said, commenting on the prosecutors' announcement.
The judge, however, allowed Mikerin's lawyers to use the released documents in the defense part of the hearing, held in the US District Court of Maryland on Thursday.
Mikerin's arrest was scheduled for early summer, but later in August the decision was overturned by prosecutors Rod Rosenstein and Adam Aik, according to the court documents.
The appeal, signed by Rosenstein and Aik, urged the court to cancel Mikerin's arrest order since the law enforcement agents were allegedly hoping that Mikerin would secretly collaborate with them against top-level Russian officials.
Vadim Mikerin, the head of TENAM Corp., which is the US subsidiary of Russia's state-owned uranium producer and trader Techsnabexport, was arrested in the United States on allegations of participating in a kickback scheme in exchange for granting uranium supply contracts to US citizens.
Mikerin is accused of receiving $1.7 million in bribes for granting three US citizens over $33 million in non-competitive contracts with Techsnabexport. If found guilty, Mikerin could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
JSC Techsnabexport, also known by its brand name of TENEX, exports enriched uranium product to a number of key markets, including the United States, Mexico, China, South Africa, Japan and several European states.
