Russia’s chief prosecutor has demanded that Britain return 500 billion rubles ($8.4 billion) stolen by Russian economic criminals that Moscow has been seeking to repatriate for over a decade.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has sought the extradition of 61 Russians accused of financial crimes since 2002, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika told the state-run NTV channel in an interview Sunday. Chaika said Russia incurred more than $8 billion in “direct losses,” adding that “significantly more” has been siphoned off to the U.K.
“Keep the criminals but give us back the money. This is our money,” Chaika said.
According to Russia’s chief prosecutor, Moscow hopes that London will use its anti-money laundering and corruption laws “in accordance with the standards of a civilized state and not on the principle of looting the looted.”
“In other words, they stole in Russia and now Great Britain will seize [the assets] and take it all into its budget,” Chaika said.
Update: A previous version of this article stated that Yury Chaika had demanded that Britain return $500 billion in losses. The correct number is 500 billion rubles ($8.4 billion).
