PwC to feature in Yukos trial

PwC is set to move to the centre of a Moscow court hearing when the former owners of the oil group Yukos defend themselves against embezzlement charges.

The Financial Times reports this morning that lawyers for Platon Lebedev will claim that the audit firm came under pressure to withdraw audits covering Yukos operations from 1996 to 2006.

Lebedev along with Mikhail Khodorkovsky was charged with embezzling 350 tonnes of oil from Yukos between 1998 and 2003. They were jailed in 2005.

In 2007 PwC was cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with the audits. This followed a raid on their offices. Russian authorities also made an attempt to embroil the firm in tax evasion charges in connection with Yukos. But this action has also been dropped.

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