Russian police have seized the assets of the doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.
Rodchenkov, who fled Russia for the United States in November, is currently being investigated under charges of abusing his power while serving as head of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory.
Rodchenkov’s property was seized at the request of investigators examing the case, a court spokesperson announced Thursday.
Rodchenkov accused the Russian government of funding, running and covering up a widespread doping programme at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics during an interview with The New York Times in May.
Rodchenkov’s testimony was also used as key evidence in an independent report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA’s claims led to dozens of Russian athletes being banned from this summer’s Olympic Games and the country’s entire Paralympic squad being excluded from next month’s Paralympic Games.
Russia’s Investigative Committee previously announced it had evidence which proved that Rodchenkov had made money by obtaining performance-enhancing drugs in the U.S. and running illegal doping schemes in Russian sport.
