Russian businessman Viktor Baturin, the brother-in-law of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, was charged with attempted fraud on Tuesday, a police spokesman said.
Baturin was detained in Moscow on Monday. Investigators said he demanded payment of 10.8 million rubles ($344,000) from his billionaire sister’s company Inteko under a fake promissory note.
“The suspect said he was aware that the note was forged and said he received the document from his sister. He also had two similar notes at home,” the Moscow Police Department’s press office said. “Baturin was charged with attempted fraud.”
The investigators said they would request to put Baturin into a pre-trial detention facility as he currently serves a suspended sentence.
In early June this year, Baturin, the brother of property construction tycoon Yelena Baturina, received a suspended three-year jail term for fraud. He was found guilty of selling one property in downtown Moscow to two men for $857,000 and $1.5 million within the space of one month in 2008.
The Presnensky district court also fined Baturin $10,800 in damages.