Russian tycoon faces fraud trial

Boris Berezovsky used to be close to Vladimir Putin

Russian billionaire and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky could be tried in absentia next week for embezzlement, a Moscow court official said.

The London-based tycoon is accused of embezzling millions of euros from Russian airline Aeroflot in the 1990s.

But he dismissed the Russian legal move as politically motivated resulting from his constant criticism of the Kremlin.

Lawyers for the tycoon, who was granted political asylum in the UK in 2003, said they would refuse to take part.