Yeltsin's daughters accused of corruption

Corruption allegations dog Yeltsin despite his resignation

The daughters of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin are expected to be charged with bribery in connection with a Kremlin property scandal, an American magazine has said.

Newsweek reported that Swiss investigators were preparing charges implicating as many as 14 people in the property scandal - known as the Mabatex affair.

However it did not say exactly when the charges will be filed.

Mabatex is a Lugano-based construction company that allegedly paid kickbacks to senior Russian officials in return for lucrative contracts to refurbish Kremlin-owned buildings in Moscow.

Newsweek said President Yeltsin's daughters Tatyana - her father's closest political adviser - and Yelena allegedly had credit card accounts set up and bills paid for by Mabetex about the same time that it was awarded the contracts.

Tatyana had the ear of her father when he was in power

Sources cited by the weekly magazine said the accounts were opened for Yeltsin's daughters "without their consent, but they used them and spent quite a lot of money".

The bills amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Yeltsin was granted full immunity from prosecution when he retired on 31 December.

Charged

The Swiss authorities charged Mabetex chief Behgjet Pacolli with money laundering and criminal association two weeks ago.

They have also indicted the former chief of the Kremlin property management division, Pavel Borodin, who was also a top aide and confidant of the former president, on money laundering charges.

Property Manager Borodin has denied the allegations

All those involved in the affair have denied any wrongdoing, and Mr Borodin has refused to give himself up, despite an international arrest warrant issued in January.

Russia has no extradition treaty with Switzerland.

Last week, the Russian Government said it had found no evidence to back up corruption allegations against the previous administration.

President Vladimir Putin's chief property manager, Vladimir Kozhin, who succeeded Pavel Borodin, told a news conference that his audit of the Kremlin assets had revealed cases of ineffective management that led to lost profits, but no deliberate abuse.