Russia's former minister indicted in United States

Russia's former atomic energy minister Yevgeny Adamov, who was recently arrested in Switzerland at the US request, was indicted in the United States, the official Swissinfo website reported Friday.

Adamov, 65, was charged with money laundering, tax evasion, conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to transfer stolen money and securities. He could face up to 60 years in prison and afine of 1.75 million US dollars, according to Swissinfo.

The former minister was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His US-based business partner Mark Kaushansky, a former Westinghouse Electric Corp nuclear power plant engineer, was charged at the same time.

They were accused of stealing more than 9 million US dollars from the US and other countries -- money that was intended to improve nuclear safety in Russia.

Adamov, who was detained Monday while in Switzerland for a court case related to his daughter's bank accounts, said on Wednesday that he planned to fight a US request for his extradition.

The US government must present a formal extradition request, after which a Swiss court will decide whether to do with him.

Adamov was appointed a minister in 1998 under then-president Boris Yeltsin, but was sacked by President Vladimir Putin in 2001 after a parliamentary investigation accused him of corruption.

Source: Xinhua