Vitaly Malkin has resigned his senate seat in the Russian Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, amid allegations that he violated legal restrictions on lawmakers.
Malkin came under scrutiny after anticorruption blogger Aleksei Navalny wrote Malkin had Israeli citizenship, which would violate laws against Russian lawmakers having dual citizenship.
Navalny also reported Malkin owned real estate abroad that did not appear on his financial-disclosure forms.
Malkin admitted he had Israeli citizenship but said he renounced it in 2007.
Since the initial accusations became public, other allegations have been made in the Russian media about Malkin’s finances, his possible French citizenship, and an alleged attempt to receive Canadian citizenship in the 1990s.
Malkin has represented the Buryatia region in the Federation Council since 2004.
His resignation is due to be debated in the Federation Council on March 27.